Tenshi no Tsubasa 2
by zoey04
Summary: Sequel to Tenshi no Tsubasa. Heero is finding it harder than he thought to blend back into society. When he and Duo land a case similar to the one that caused Heero's death over a year ago, Duo is very relunctant to take it. yaoi 1x2. duo pov. please r&r.
1. Chapter 1

**Guess what I was doing during my entire road trip? Writing! Yaaay! XD And it was all worth it cause I finally got this finished. This one is just a little longer than the first one... about 3000 words longer I think... It didn't turn out quite how I planned it, but I really like it, so I'm keeping it XD Sorry for the wait, and I hope you guys like it too.**

**And I completely suck at coming up with titles *hence the lame title*. Anything I thought of just didn't fit...**

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Chapter 1

This was too familiar. In the back of my mind, I knew it was a dream, but something just seemed too… real. It seemed almost like it was a warning of some sort. But why, I didn't know.

We were in our truck parked in front of some warehouse. That was different. We were in a Preventers SUV when the accident happened. I was on the phone with our assistant district attorney who was trying to get a judge to sign a search warrant so we could enter the building. I could hear her in a heated argument with the judge, explaining how the circumstances were more than justified. This was all way too familiar, and I thought it was that nightmare again. But something was… different.

"_Got it. You're good to enter and apprehend anyone on site, Agent Maxwell,"_ the ADA told me.

"Great, thanks," I responded, then pulled out my service pistol and jumped out of the car.

Heero took the lead and we ran towards the warehouse together.

No, this wasn't right. Heero was supposed to go in there alone while I was arguing with our ADA. That's what had happened. And… I had a limp? Why was I limping? I wasn't supposed to get that limp until after the accident. And also… was Heero's hair black? Why the hell did Heero have black hair? And his eyes… they were brown. What happened to the beautiful cobalt blue his eyes used to be?

We reached the door and Heero signaled for me to take the side, he'll take the front. I nodded, but didn't like the idea of use splitting up. I headed around to the side door and waited for Heero's signal in my ear piece.

"Ready," his voice whispered in my ear.

"Ready," I echoed. "Go!"

At the same time, we both kicked in the doors and entered, guns raised.

"Preventer agents!" both Heero and I yelled at the same time.

Guns started to fire. The group of three men in the middle of the room were firing on us. Heero took out one, but the other two were hiding behind the table they had just upturned.

I looked over to Heero as I jumped behind the wall for cover just as he took two bullets to the chest. He fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

"Heero!" I yelled.

No! This isn't what happened! It was an explosion caused by a trip wire that killed him! He wasn't supposed to be shot!

I ran out from my cover, running straight up to the table and killing them both point blank. Once the last man fell to the ground, a bullet between his eyes, I turned and ran to Heero.

He was still alive, but just barely. He was so pale and was gasping for breath. It looked like one bullet had gone through his right lung and the other through his upper abdomen. I pressed my hands to the two wounds to try and make the bleeding as minimal as possible.

"Duo… I'm sorry…" he managed between gasps.

"Its okay, Heero. You'll be okay. You have to hold on. I won't lose you again," I told him.

Again? What? What did I mean by 'again'? What was going on?

"I… love you," he forced, then went limp under my hands, his heart ceasing to beat and his lungs no longer gasping for air.

"No!" I shouted, bolting upright in bed.

Heero started awake and instinctively tensed, ready for trouble. When he realized what was going on, he relaxed and sat up, concern clear in his eyes.

"What is it, Duo? What's wrong?" he asked me, sitting up next to me.

I turned to him and hugged him tightly to me, breathing deeply and trying to keep my tears in check. He wrapped his arms around me tentatively. I played with the feathers of his wings while I tried to slow my heart and calm myself down. I kissed his neck, then released him.

"What's wrong?" he asked me again, worry clear on his face.

"Nothing. It was just a dream," I told him, falling back into the pillows.

"Of the accident?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly.

I rolled over and looked at the clock. My alarm was supposed to go off in fifteen minutes.

"Ugh!" I complained, burying my face in my pillow. "I don't want to go to work. I want to sleep…"

Heero laughed as he laid back down, skimming his claws across the bare skin of my back. I had almost fallen asleep again when I remembered something. Something I never should've forgotten in the first place.

"Your surgery is today!" I realized with a start.

He nodded, looking nervous as he played with a snow white feather. "Yeah. I'm going to need a ride."

I had called a surgeon that we had saved the life of during the war. He worked in a very small hospital just out of the city limits. When I explained the situation, he was more than eager to help in any way possible and he promised us utmost secrecy. We had set up an appointment and met with him a few weeks ago. He took a look at Heero and decided that he would be able to remove his wings.

"Of course. I'll take you on my way to work. But, I can't stay. I have no reason to give to Une to take the day off," I frowned. "I'll be there after work though."

He nodded, rolling onto his back, his wings folded underneath him.

"When are you leaving?" he asked.

"About half an hour," I answered, crawling out of bed.

"I'm going to sleep… if I can…" he grumbled, rolling over and burying his face in the pillows.

That was when, taking a closer look at him, I noticed he seemed exhausted and had circles under his eyes.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" I asked him, slightly worried.

"No," he responded, his voice muffled by the pillow. "I was too nervous."

I nodded. I wasn't too worried about him not getting any sleep because he'd be under anesthesia for five plus hours while he had the surgery.

"Do you know what time the actual surgery starts?" I asked him as I pulled on my Preventers jacket.

"Uhm… twelve, I think. They want me there early so that they can prep me and all that crap," he said, turning his face out of the pillow so I could understand him.

That was good. I wanted to be there when he woke up. I knew that it took a little less than three hours to complete an amputation. And he was getting a double amputation, so that would be five to six hours if it all went well. He'd probably be out for a little while after too. So if I got out at six, I should get back to the hospital before he woke up. Hopefully we won't land a big case. I'd have no reason to leave early considering I usually pulled all nighters at headquarters when we had large cases. Anything to avoid going home to my empty house and depressing nightmares.

"Okay. I'll try and be there," I told him, leaning down to kiss him before heading downstairs and grabbing something to eat.

As I picked at my breakfast, I thought about Heero and his surgery. I was nervous out of my mind, and I wasn't even the one getting the operation. I couldn't even imagine how Heero was feeling. I dropped my head onto the table, pushing away my untouched breakfast. After watching the clock for about twenty minutes, I heaved a sigh and stood up.

"Heero! Wake up! We gotta go!" I called up to him as I hunted down the keys to the truck.

He appeared at the foot of the stairs a minute later in his long trench coat and jeans. He didn't look like he had gotten any more sleep.

"Did you get any sleep?" I asked as I limped towards the front door.

"No," he grumbled, looking really nervous.

"It'll be fine, Heero," I promised him. "This is the guy who fixed my leg and shoulder after the explosion. He's a good man. I trust him."

He nodded, but didn't look any less worried as he climbed into the truck. He played with his feathers the entire way to the hospital and it seemed like he was turning pale. When I finally pulled up to the front of the small building, I could clearly see his hands shaking.

"I don't want to do this…" he murmured, staring at the front doors of the hospital.

"You don't have to do this, Heero. It's not too late to cancel the surgery," I told him, taking his shaking hand.

He laughed but it was strained and forced. "No, Duo. You're supposed to tell me to suck it up and just go get it over with."

"Not if you don't want to. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do," I frowned at him.

He sighed, playing with the feathers that peeked out from behind the coat. "And then what, Duo? What if I do back away and keep my wings? I'll end up being cooped up in your house for the rest of my life hiding from society. I can't live like that."

"Whatever you want to do, Heero. This is a big decision and I can't make it for you. You need to make it on your own," I told him. "But I want you to know, that I'm perfectly fine with any decision that you make."

He nodded. "Okay, then I'll suck it up and just go get it done."

I nodded and pulled him in for a quick kiss before I stepped out of the truck.

"Don't you need to get to work?" he asked as we walked towards the front door.

"I have a few minutes," I responded, looking down at my watch.

The surgeon met us at the door and hurried us back into his office and away from the other patients and nurses.

"So I've recorded this as muscle repair surgery in both shoulders and that I'm in no need of nurses or assistants. You tore both you're middle and lower trapezius lifting weights, okay?" the doctor told us. "I will be operating in the same way I would to repair those muscles, only I'll be removing your wings."

I nodded. "Thanks so much Rick," I smiled, shaking his hand as he turned to leave.

"No problem kid. You both saved my life and my family during the war and I am forever indebted to the both of you," he smiled, then left to go set up an operating room.

"So you sure you'll be okay? I could probably come up with a reason to take the day off if you—"

He cut me off by leaning forward and kissing me.

"I'll be fine. You need to go to work. I'll be out for most of the day anyway," he promised me after he gave me back my lips.

"Okay. I'll be here when you wake up. Good luck," I told him as I left the office and headed out to the truck.

After pulling into the Preventers parking lot, I hurried into the building and up to my office, hoping to avoid Une or WuFei. I really didn't want any new cases and Une was always giving ones to me to 'keep my mind off of things' and WuFei was always dumping his on me.

Trowa was already in our office completing reports.

"Any new cases?" I asked him, sitting down across from him at my desk.

He just shook his head.

"Alright then," I huffed, sitting down in my chair and watching Trowa fill out the report. "Anything you need me to do?"

He took the stack of files next to him and dropped them on my side of the desk. "Log those," he told me, not looking up from his report.

"Sure thing," I sighed, turning on my computer.

It took a while to enter all of the files into the computer. I was just saving the last file into the archives when Trowa returned with another stack of reports. He dropped them on my desk then turned back for the door.

"Where the heck did you get all these?" I exclaimed with a laugh. "Do you just go around the office asking people if they have reports that need logging?"

He nodded.

I had been joking. I hadn't expected him to actually answer that. "Oh, okay then…"

"Une wants you working at all times to keep your mind occupied," he explained.

That stung a little, but I was more caught up in something else entirely to fuss over that. "Dude! I think that's the longest sentence you've ever said to me!"

He rolled his eyes at me and left without another word. I opened the first file and groaned. These weren't even interesting cases like murder or missing persons or high speed chases or anything. They were lost dog and stolen wallet complaints. I looked up at the clock and decided it was close enough to my lunch break. But that also meant that it was almost time for Heero's surgery.

I assured myself that Heero would be fine as I joined Trowa and Quatre in the cafeteria. I was quiet as usual as I picked at my lunch, not really eating it.

"You okay Duo?" Quatre asked me, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Why?"

"I don't know. You seem a little… out of it," he pointed out.

"Oh, well… just tired I guess. Didn't sleep well last night," I brushed it off, turning back to my lunch and actually eating it.

He let it go and I let my thoughts turn back to Heero. After dumping the rest of my lunch, I limped back up to my office to finish those files, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.

At just after five o'clock, my cell rang and, keeping my eyes on my computer screen, I answered it and put it between my ear and shoulder, continuing to type.

"Maxwell," I answered.

"This is Doctor Clayton. I just wanted to tell you that Heero got out of surgery about half an hour ago," the doctor told me.

"How did it go?" I asked him nervously, my file completely forgotten. I couldn't tell by the tone of his voice whether it went good or not.

"It went just fine. I got the wings completely removed and skin and muscle grafts to replace where they were. Taking a look at his back, you wouldn't be able to tell there was ever anything out of the ordinary there. Just two scars consistent with muscle repair surgery."

"Thanks so much, doc," I smiled. "Is it okay if I come see him? How much longer will he be out?"

"Of course you can come see him! He should be out for another twenty minutes at the most."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," I told him, then hung up when I saw Trowa out in the hall talking to another agent. I didn't want him asking questions, like he even would…

He turned and entered the room, another file in his hand.

"No way man! I am _not_ doing any more puppy snatcher files," I told him, leaning back into my chair, arms crossed over my chest.

"New case," he told me.

I internally groaned. "Priority?"

"Top."

I groaned out loud.

"Why?" he asked, confused as to why I didn't jump on the case like I usually did.

"My horse is an idiot and messed up his leg in a gopher hole out in the pasture. I need to give him his meds," I lied.

"Come back," he told me, dismissing me.

"Thanks. I'll be back in a few hours," I told him.

"One."

I frowned. "Fine."

I quickly made my escape and hurried down to the truck. I knew Trowa had probably taken the case just for me. He was going to dump it on me when I got back and then leave it for me to do by myself, like always. I knew he was just doing it because he was concerned for my mental state, because he didn't want me to go home alone then off myself. I liked that kind of concern in a partner, but I couldn't wait until Heero came back and I had free rein over my life again. But that brought up a very important question… How in the hell was I going to come up with a story as to why Heero isn't dead?

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**So I didn't want Heero to lose his wings, but he kind of had to, you know? So you like so far? Please review and I'll post the next chapter tomorrow night.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I didn't post last night guys. I was at a friends house. So here is the next chapter and I'll try and post another tomorrow morning to make up for not posting. Only if I can get it proofed first... Well, thanks for all the reviews and enjoy!**

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Chapter 2

I tried to think up a story the entire way to the hospital, but couldn't think of anything. Well, Heero still had to recover, then lose the last of his animal instinct before he could join society again, so we had a while to think of something.

I pulled into the parking lot and hurried into the building and to the doctor's office.

"Oh good, you're here," the doctor smiled as soon as I entered the office. "I'll take you to his room."

I nodded and limped quickly behind him. "How long do you think it'll be until he wakes up?"

"Should be any minute now if he isn't already awake," he told me as he stopped in front of one of the recovery rooms in the very back of the hospital.

Through the glass I could see Heero lying in his stomach, thick bandages covering his upper back and disappearing underneath the hospital sheets. It almost seemed weird not seeing Heero without his wings. I almost didn't recognize him, since his face was turned away from the glass. The heart monitor was beating slow, which meant that he was still out.

"Stay as long as you want," the doctor told me as he opened the door and entered the room. "He won't be having any room mates so if you'd like you can stay here," he told me, gesturing to the empty bed next to Heero.

"Thanks, but we just landed a new case and my partner wants me back in less than an hour," I frowned, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Heero.

"Well that's too bad," he said as he checked Heero's vitals and messed with an IV line.

I reached up and brushed his messy chocolate bangs from over his eyes. I took his hand and played with his fingers, careful not to move his arm, not knowing how it would affect his shoulders and back.

"How long will he have to be here?" I asked him as he scribbled down something on his chart.

"Well, he should stay in the hospital for the next twenty four to forty eight hours. After that he's free to leave as long as he stays in bed at least another week and keeps any strenuous exercise to the bear minimum."

I nodded just as Heero's heart monitor started to pick up, signaling that he was waking up. What I wasn't expecting was for his still lingering animal instincts to completely take over.

His eyes flew open and he hissed, springing up out of bed. He winced at the movement and sudden pain in his back. The IV needles ripped out of his arm and the small suction cup looking things keeping the heart monitor to his chest popped off as he fell backwards off the bed. He landed on his butt on the floor, probably expecting his wings to have caught him. He seemed stocked and confused and in pain for a minute, but then his head started to clear as he realized where he was and what was going on.

The doctor was approaching him with a sedative, but I stopped him.

"Heero, it's me," I told him as I walked up to him. "Do you know where you are?"

"Uh… yeah. I'm… I'm in a hospital because I just got my wings…" he trailed off, then lifted a hand to try and feel his back. He winced at the movement and dropped his hand.

The doctor and I helped him stand and helped him back into bed.

"This is going to take a long time to get used to…" Heero frowned as he flopped back down on his stomach. "You did a really good job, doc. I can't even feel any of the muscles or ligaments that use to control my wings."

"I took out everything that had anything to do with your wings. I even removed the bones that made up the sockets."

The doctor started to remove his bandages and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I need to check and make sure he didn't rip any stitches," he told me as he unwrapped the bandages and pulled back the gauze.

There were two, about nine inch long, parallel incisions on his back, held together by a long string of stitches. But the stitches were in the middle of the two rough circles of the bio skin. That didn't make any sense.

"The grafts will eventually look exactly like the surrounding real skin. Once that happens, there won't be any evidence that he had muscle repair surgery. He'd need these two scars. Once I applied the bio skin, I made the incisions that would've been made during a muscle repair surgery. I did the same in the muscle grafts," the doctor explained, answering my unspoken question.

"Awesome. More scars," Heero said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

I laughed and ran my fingers over some of his old scars. It was good that none of them ran into the new skin, because that would've been hard to explain why they suddenly cut off. Heero shivered under my touch and I pulled my hand away. The doctor replaced the gauze, then started to rewrap the bandages.

"Sorry I freaked out," Heero frowned. "I have no idea what happened."

"It's understandable," I responded. "You woke up in an unfamiliar environment with your wings gone."

He nodded, then sighed. "This feels really awkward, but… I'm glad I did it," he told me honestly.

"Yeah, me too," I replied.

My cell started to ring then and I pulled it out, looking at the caller ID. It was Trowa. I exhaled sharply as I answered it.

"What?" I asked, a little sharper than I meant to.

"You're frustrated," he pointed out, and I could tell he was wondering why.

"I'm trying to give a very reluctant horse his medicine. Yeah, I'm a little frustrated," I lied. I was going to be so glad when Heero officially came back. I was not liking all the lying I was having to do.

"Time's up," he told me matter-of-a-factly.

"Sorry. I'll be in as soon as I can," I told him, then hung up.

"You're giving your reluctant horse meds?" Heero asked me with a raised eyebrow.

"Well Trowa thinks I am," I frowned. "That was him. He wants me back. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he promised me. "Besides… I'm still tired from the anesthetic. I'll probably be asleep in another few minutes anyway."

I leaned down and lightly touched my lips to his. "I'll be back soon," I promised him.

He nodded and closed his eyes. The doctor followed me as I reluctantly left the room. Once outside with the door closed behind use, I turned to him.

"Call me if anything happens?" I asked him.

"Of course," he nodded, then headed back down the hallway towards his office.

And I was right that Trowa had gotten the case just for me. He brought me up to speed on some key points of the case, then left. I quickly set to work, wanting to get it solved as soon as I could. It was a old murder case that had gotten a new lead. After about three hours of running in between the lab, the file room, my office, and the coffee machine, I finally solved it. I made some calls, filed the paperwork, then was out of there as quickly as possible.

When I reached the hospital, I ran right into the doctor. He seemed almost panicked.

"What's going on?" I asked him, a little worried.

"He's gone," he told me.

"What do you mean he's gone?" I shouted at him as I hurried towards Heero's room.

"I went in to check his stats and refill his IV bags, but he wasn't there," the doctor explained as he followed me.

I rounded the corner and ran up to Heero's room. Looking through the glass, I saw that his bed was indeed empty. His heart monitor though, was keeping a steady rhythm, even though the small monitors were strewn across the bed. He must've messed with it to keep it beating a steady rhythm so that it wouldn't alert the doctor.

"How long has he been missing?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure."

"Where have you looked?"

"The showers, the first floor, and the stairwell," he responded quickly.

"Why would he…" I started to ask, but then I had an idea as to where he could've gone.

I took off towards the exit at the back of the hospital. Flinging open the door, I saw him out in the short grass. He was sitting cross legged in hospital issue sweats, looking up into the dark sky. I took a deep breath and walked up next to him and sat down.

"Hi," he said, his voice just louder than a whisper.

"You could've asked the doctor to take you outside," I told him.

"He wouldn't have let me," he frowned, taking my hand in his. "How was your case?"

"Easy. I don't know why it was a cold case," I answered. "How bout we go back inside. You shouldn't be out here after you just had surgery."

He sighed deeply, looking back up at the stars. "I'm still trying to get used to staying indoors all the time. I get… fidgety… nervous… It's hard to explain. It's like I'm being caged," he told me.

"I get that, but you need to be kept in a sterile environment while you're recovering," I warned. "I'll take you home as soon as the doctor releases you. I promise."

…

"How are you feeling?"

"Eh," he shrugged, then cringed at the pain it caused in his shoulders.

"Are you in pain?" I pressed as I sat next to him on the fence.

"A little more than normal. The stitches are driving me crazy. I can feel them in my skin tugging and pulling and…" he exhaled in annoyance.

"The doctor said they can come out tomorrow," I promised him as I pulled out his pill bottle. I handed him two of the pain pills. "Here. Take your pain meds."

"I hate taking pills," he grumbled, popping them into his mouth and dry swallowing them.

Heero had been out of the hospital for a week. He was able to move and walk around, though he did have limited mobility in his shoulders. He had found it very hard to keep his balance though without the heavy wings on his back anymore, and he still had difficulty with that quite often.

And my dreams… The dreams were getting worse. I knew they weren't from the accident, but from something that hasn't happened yet. They were honestly scaring me, but I hid it from Heero, not wanting to worry him.

I took his hand and played with his dulled claws. Unlike with his wings, his claws and teeth weren't something that could be easily removed. The claws we had managed to dull down pretty far, so unless you take a close look at them, you wouldn't be able to tell they were much different. His teeth however… there wasn't much we could do with those. He'd just have to keep his mouth closed as much as possible. He had never been a very talkative person, so I wasn't too worried about that.

"You still need a story," I told him.

He frowned, looking out into the large pasture.

"How about we start with the explosion? What happened? Why didn't you die?" I started.

"Body burned beyond recognition? Mistaken identity?" he supplied.

"You were burned really badly just about all over your body… That could work. It would take a lot of convincing though. A lot of people saw you after the explosion. Like the paramedics and the chopper crew and the mortician. Let's see if we can think of something else."

It was silent as we both thought.

"We were after really high end drug dealers, right?" he asked me, breaking the silence.

"Yeah."

"Would I have been put in the witness protection program? I had survived the explosion, but the U.S. Marshals set up my 'death' then took me away?" he tried.

"That is really good. That could actually work. It'll be really hard to hack into their system and set up your file though," I frowned. "And I'd think they would remember hiding an ex Gundam pilot."

"Yeah, they probably would… But would they question their own records?"

"I doubt it. Okay, so that's what happened. You survived the accident, but for your safety, they made it appear that you had died, then changed your name and sent you off to the mountains to hide. So then after that… The cabin they sent you to was close to mine. We ran into each other out in the woods and, now that I had found you and knew your identity, you had to come out of hiding."

"Sounds good to me."

"And the reason you've been hiding out in our house for the past few weeks?"

"Uhm…" he thought. "I was waiting for the Marshals to drop my case."

"Alright. So I'll go hack their system," I told him as I hopped off the fence and limped back inside.

It was easier than I had expected to hack into the Marshals system and set up a file for Heero. I found an older agent that looked like he wouldn't know what a Gundam pilot was and assigned him to the case. I gave Heero a fake name, birthday, family, and put him in an unoccupied cabin up near mine. Then, after the file was completed, I marked that it had been dropped, that Heero was no longer under witness protection anymore. I exited out, careful to cover my tracks and make it seem like the file had actually been created in Marshal headquarters.

That was done. Heero had his story. Now all we had to do was convince everyone at Preventers that he was really back.

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**Well? You guys like? And that was the best I could do for an explanation. Sorry I couldn't come up with some really creative story... Please review! Thank you :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**So as promised, I got this chapter proofed and posted this morning. Yaaay XD Thanks for all the reviews. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 3

It was another week before Heero's bandages were removed. The doctor told us then that he was healed and that he was free to do as he pleased. Which meant it was time to take him to Preventers.

We were in the truck on our way to headquarters the next morning. Heero was wearing his old Preventers uniform and a sweater with a hood. His hands were shaking with nerves and his eyes were glued to the window. I myself was nervous as well, hoping I could keep to the story and not slip up.

"Has it changed?" Heero asked me as we pulled into the parking garage.

"Preventers? No, not really," I answered honestly. "Are you sure about this?"

He nodded and stepped out of the car, pulling his hood up over his head. He kept his head down as we headed through the halls and up to Une's office. I was grateful we didn't run into anyone like Trowa, or Quatre, or anyone else who would've talked to me. The elevator doors opened and we made the short walk across the hall to Une's office.

"Wait here," I told him outside her door.

He nodded and I entered the room.

"What do you want?" Une asked in annoyance, not looking up from her papers.

"Uhm… I need to tell you something," I responded.

She looked up at me with a slightly concerned expression, wanting me to continue.

"Well… I haven't been completely straight with you. I've been telling you that my good mood has been because of my anti-depressants, when really I haven't taken any in over a month."

"What? Are you insane Maxwell?" she yelled at me.

"No. I'm not. There is a reason I haven't needed to take them," I told her, then sighed. "I ran into someone in the woods when I was up there a little while ago."

She raised an eyebrow at me in confusion and I called to Heero in the hallway. He walked in, his head still down, then he turned to face Une and dropped his hood.

Une gasped, standing up and taking a step back, nearly stumbling into her chair. Her face showed more emotion than I ever thought possible from her. She looked like she was seeing a ghost and looked utterly lost for words until she forced out, "W-What…?"

"He didn't really die in that explosion," I told her as she walked around her desk to stand in front of us.

"Oh my god…" she gasped as she reached out and touched his shoulder, as if making sure he was actually there. "Why didn't he… How come… What happened?"

"He was put into witness protection by the Marshals. They ended up placing him in a cabin in the mountains not too far from mine. We ran into each other and he came home with me."

"And he's just been hiding out in you house for over a month?" she asked for clarification as she looked Heero up and down.

"We were waiting for the Marshals to drop my case, ma'am," Heero answered, making Une jump slightly.

"Wow… This is so… unbelievable… It's so good to have you back, Agent Yuy. I… You don't know how much you've been missed," she smiled at him. "Are you looking to get your job back?"

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded.

"Get your old partner in here, Maxwell. I'll call WuFei. We'll need to do some partner swapping," she told me.

I smiled and called Trowa, eager to stick him back with WuFei.

"Barton," he answered.

"Hey, man. Une wants you in her office," I told him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just get over here. You'll see," I promised him and he hung up on me.

Une hung up with WuFei and then started to rifle through her drawers. After a little while, she pulled out Heero's old badge and gun. There was a new holster because the old one had been melted in the explosion, but other than that it was all Heero's old stuff. The badge even had a large scorch mark across the metal.

Heero slipped the badge and holster onto his belt just as the door opened and Trowa entered, followed right by Quatre.

Trowa just froze in the doorway, his eyes slightly wide. Quatre, who had been talking to him, bumped right into him. When he looked up and saw Heero, he gasped, then jumped at him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Uh… good to see you too, Quatre," Heero smiled slightly, hugging him back.

"What the hell…" WuFei's voice asked from the doorway. He was frozen right next to Trowa, looking confused and shocked.

"We all thought you were dead! What happened?" Quatre demanded, finally releasing Heero. It looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"The Marshals took him into witness protection," I answered.

"Does this mean Mr. Over Bearing Sense of Justice is my partner again?" Trowa asked as if hoping Une would say no.

"Why don't you ever say that much to me?" I laughed at him and he just rolled his eyes at me.

"Yes," Une answered him, also rolling her eyes at me. "Yuy will be back working with Maxwell again."

"Then let's go Barton. I have a huge case I'm working," WuFei insisted, heading back out the door.

Trowa sighed and reached out a hand to Heero. Heero shook it tentatively.

"Good to have you back," Trowa told him, then followed WuFei out the door.

Quatre hugged Heero again. I think he might've been in shock.

"Get back to work, you three," Une frowned at us. "At least get out of my office. Oh, and Yuy? Welcome back."

"Thank you ma'am," he told her.

I took his hand, leading him out of the room and down the hall with Quatre sticking right with us. People stared. Some seemed happy, others seemed confused, and even others seemed in disbelief. I could tell it was making Heero nervous. I could feel him tensing up next to me. His mostly buried animal instincts were reacting to the amount of people, all the attention, and the claustrophobic building. I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as we followed a nearly skipping Quatre down the hall.

"I can't believe your back!" Quatre nearly squealed as we made our way to our office. "You wouldn't believe how badly everyone seemed to take your death. Especially Duo," his tone darkened a little.

"Really?" Heero asked, his hand tightening around mine slightly.

"Yeah," he was completely serious now, his head down as he recalled the painful memory. I really didn't want to relive this, but I'd rather Quatre told Heero than having to myself. "I was so worried for him. At first he seemed to be just in shock, denial almost. But then I think it finally hit him that you weren't coming back. I found the note on his desk along with his badge. I was able to stop him from killing himself, but just barely. I guess it's a good thing I did."

Heero shot a glance at me, concern clear in his eyes. I shrugged and continued down the hall and into our office. Quatre gave Heero another quick hug, then left us alone.

"You tried to kill yourself? I knew you were upset about it, but I never realized…" he trailed off, looking guilty.

I shrugged again, not wanting to get into those details. "I didn't see the point of living anymore now that you were gone. But after my first attempt, I realized that you wouldn't have wanted me to take my life like that, so I didn't try again."

I plopped down into my chair and booted up my computer. Heero remained near the door, unsure of what to do. I chuckled and reached under the desks with my foot to push his chair out. He sat down, but still didn't know what to do.

"Well we don't have any cases so… usually I took this time to throw stuff at you," I laughed. "Trowa didn't like that as much. He confiscated all my paperclips."

Heero laughed at me, then looked around the small office. He was sitting with his back ramrod straight and looked uncomfortable and unsure.

"How is your back?" I asked him.

"Okay," he answered simply.

At that moment, Quatre walked in with a large stack of folders. He sifted through the stack, then found the one he was looking for and tossed it onto my desk.

"New case," he told us simply, then continued on to the next office.

I picked up the file and flipped through it. It was just a simple bank robbery.

"Why don't you deal with the surveillance footage and run any hits through facial recognition. I'll talk to the bank manager," I told him, handing him the disk that was tucked into the folder.

He nodded and turned on the computer. He frowned at it at first, but then seemed to remember what to do.

"If you have any questions, you can ask."

"Hn," he grunted as he brought up the security feed.

I called the bank manager and was on the phone with him for what seemed like forever. He didn't seem to want me to hang up on him. I half listened to him, half watched Heero to make sure he was doing okay. The man had been wearing a mask, so Heero couldn't use facial recognition. That seemed to frustrate him, and he went back to the beginning and watched the entire tape more closely, looking for anything else he could use.

"Did forensics dust for prints?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I answered. "Back of the folder. They are labeled by where they were found and which finger made them."

"Thanks," he murmured to me and flipped to the back of the file.

Heero seemed to know exactly what to do. He scanned certain prints and ran them through AFIS. After identifying the prints and getting pictures of their owners, he personally compared each picture to the man in the tape. We found a suspect and I went with Heero to question him. An arrest was made and we booked him and set him up with a court date. Case closed.

Through the entire day, it had seemed like Heero had been forcing himself to stay focused. He seemed jumpy and on edge, especially when we were out of the office. It worried me a little, but I let it go. It was his first day back being around people after over a year of isolation. Of course he was nervous.

We were back in our office doing absolutely nothing. I pretended to be working on the computer, but I was really watching Heero. He too was on his computer, but it looked like he was just scanning through some older files. He would occasionally look over to the window looking out into the cubicles, watching the other agents.

I looked up at the clock. We only had about fifteen minutes left in our shift. Good enough. I stood and stretched, my back popping, then I headed over to the door. Heero stood quickly and followed, almost as if he was afraid to be left alone.

Quatre was just passing by, his arms still full of files, memory sticks, and disks.

"Oh hey guys," he smiled. "If you're done with that case, I have a few unassigned ones that need to be looked at."

"Put them on our desk. We'll look at them tomorrow. We're going home," I told him.

"Sure thing. Bye guys!" he called after us as he stopped to drop a file into someone's inbox.

"We're leaving?" Heero asked me, seeming almost happy.

"Yeah." I decided to voice my observation. "You seem happy."

"I like being back, but I still feel… nervous about being around people," he said quietly.

"Well hopefully you'll get more comfortable here. And, if not, you don't have to come back," I reassured him.

"I want to come back though," he insisted as the elevator doors opened.

The elevator wasn't full, but it was close. I was afraid of aggravating Heero's severe claustrophobia and anxiety, so I decided to wait for the next elevator. As the doors closed, I leaned back against the wall, but Heero remained tense. His eyes kept flickering back down the hall, making sure he knew where everyone was all the time.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea?" I questioned. "Perhaps it was just too soon?"

"No, I'm okay," he promised me, leaning back against the wall next to me, but not relaxing at all. "I just got part of my body removed so that I wouldn't have to hide from people. I want to make use of that decision now, not later. I'll get used to being in public. It might just take a while."

Another agent walked by. Heero hadn't seen the man approach and nearly jumped when he passed by, an old involuntary reflex making him reach for his gun. I frowned, grabbing his hand in mine to keep him from doing anything stupid.

The elevator doors opened and I hurried Heero into the elevator, slapping the button to close the doors before anyone could join us. Once the doors were closed and the elevator started to descend, I held my hand out to Heero.

"I think I should hold onto that for you until you get used to all of this," I suggested.

Heero nodded in agreement, pulling out his gun and handing it to me. I popped out the clip and handed him back the empty gun.

"I don't want to have to explain why you don't have your weapon," I explained before he could ask.

He nodded again as he slipped the empty gun into his worn holster. The elevator stopped and let us off at the garage. He followed close behind me and kept his face down as I waved to fellow agents passing by.

"This is a lot harder than I expected it to be," Heero admitted as he climbed into the passenger's seat of the truck.

"What were you expecting?" I asked him. "You can't expect to go over a year in total isolation living in trees to being comfortable in public areas. It's just like you said. It'll take time."

He sighed, leaning his head against the window. "But this is how I used to live, right? In my past life I don't remember being jumpy like this."

"You've always been antisocial," I reminded him. "Even before the accident you were always overly cautious and wary. Old reflexes from the war."

He sighed again and the silence that filled the car was almost uncomfortable. I couldn't help but break it.

"So did you like being back in Preventers?"

"Absolutely," he answered, but then frowned. "But I have to ask... Those aren't the kind of cases we'll always be working on, right? That was kind of boring."

I laughed. "I totally agree. And no. I'm assuming Une will start giving us more... challenging cases and missions once you get better situated. But don't expect a lot of down time. I don't think Une knows what down time is."

Heero smiled at that. "I don't think I mind. I want to get back out there and into the action again."

I didn't voice my worries. I was afraid of putting him back in the same situation that took him from me in the first place. I've had the same nightmare every night since the night before Heero's surgery. The dream that was similar to the accident, yet totally different. I had this strange feeling that it was not a flashback, but perhaps a warning of what was going to happen.

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**So? I think the reunion was... lacking? I don't know... it just doesn't seem right... So sorry about that :( What do you guys think? Please review. Thank you :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**So here's the next chapter for you guys. I can't remember if I promised another one tonight, so I'm posting anyway! XD Thanks to those of you who reviewed and thanks to the rest of you who just read it and enjoyed it XD Hope you like :)**

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Chapter 4

Just like every night, the dream came again. Again, I argued with the ADA while Heero sat impatiently next to me.

"_The evidence against this group is more than substantial, sir!"_ the ADA yelled at the judge on the other end of the line. _"We have satellite footage of them exporting and importing illegal weapons. We have had an undercover agent record conversations of illegal trade of those weapons. We have—"_

She was cut off in her argument by the judge agreeing to sign the warrant. She thanked him quickly, then turned her attention back to me.

"_Got it. You're good to enter and apprehend anyone on site, Agent Maxwell,"_ she told me, sounding relieved.

"Great, thanks," I told her, then hung up and grabbed my Glock.

Again I followed Heero to the warehouse and again he had us split up. We entered the building and identified ourselves. And again, the men opened fire on us.

I was grateful when my cell started to ring, waking me from the nightmare before Heero got shot. I groggily rolled over and reached for my cell on the bedside table.

"Maxwell," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes with my free hand.

"Who the hell is it?" Heero complained as he sat up and wiped a hand over his face.

"We have a case and we need you two in now," Une's voice demanded on the other end of the line.

I moaned, looking over at the clock. It was three in the morning.

"You need us now? Can't it wait another four hours?" I begged, rolling back onto my back.

"Yes I need you now and no it can't wait another four hours. Get over here now," she insisted, then hung up.

"That was the boss lady and she wants us at headquarters. Now," I told Heero, standing up and making my way over to the closet.

He groaned and followed behind me. Within the next twenty minutes, we were in the truck and driving down the near empty streets towards Preventer headquarters.

"So what did she want us for this early?" Heero asked, keeping his eyes out the window.

"All she told me was she had a case. She didn't elaborate. I have a feeling it's big though," I guessed.

"Oh no really?" Heero joked.

Pulling into the parking garage, I saw that it was almost empty except for Trowa and Quatre's car, WuFei's car, Une's car, and a few others mostly belonging to security. Heero followed me straight up to Une's office where she and the other three ex-pilots were waiting. They were all looking stressed. Quatre and Trowa were looking intently at a few photos while Une and WuFei argued and gestured to Une's computer screen.

"What's going on? What's the case? It must be big to have called in all of the Gundam pilots to work it," I pointed out, walking up to Une's desk.

"There is a rebel fraction creating, importing, and exporting illegal weapons," Une said simply.

"It's mostly Mobile Doll systems. But they've also imported other high end weapons as well," Quatre added, handing me the small stack of pictures he and Trowa had been looking at.

They were satellite images of unmarked trucks unloading large crates and boxes into a seemingly abandoned warehouse. In one of the photos, the men had cracked open the lid to one of the much larger boxes. Only the back end of what looked like a buster rifle was barely visible from the angle. These photos were time stamped over about a month. And judging by the size and quantity of the cargo, they had enough of the right supplies to build at least five Mobile Dolls. They were creating an army.

But that wasn't what bothered me the most. What really made my blood turn to ice was that I recognized this warehouse. It was the exact warehouse from my dreams. So this was what it was warning me against. When we finally got enough evidence to infiltrate, Heero was going to get shot.

"You guys all realize what they're doing right?" I asked to nobody in particular.

Heero peeked over my shoulder at the photos and WuFei raised an eyebrow at me.

"They're not just dealing with Mobile Doll systems. They are actually creating Mobile Dolls."

Quatre and Trowa's eyes widened and they looked at each other. Une frowned, then turned her gaze intently on her computer screen, probably looking at the satellite photos. Heero took the photos from my hand to get a closer look. WuFei looked hard at me.

"Explain," he demanded. "How do you figure that?"

I explained to all of them how I had come to that conclusion, pointing out the size and quantity of the shipments, what we saw when they occasionally peeked into the boxes, and the reason why they had Mobile Doll systems. WuFei and Une were frowning, Quatre seemed shocked, and Heero and Trowa were going through the pictures again.

"I want you two leading this case," Une said, pointing to Heero and I. "But I want all of you working it. This has become absolute top priority. This is the only case I want to see any of you working on until it's cracked, you understand me? I want these men apprehended, booked, and locked up by yesterday."

"I don't want to lead this case," I told her bluntly. I felt terrible trying to put one of the others in Heero's position, but I couldn't loose him again. I just couldn't.

"Why not, Maxwell?" she demanded.

"Well, because… uh… because Heero just got back and he needs more time to—"

"Heero was my best agent a year ago. I doubt he needs any time to settle back into his routine. And that isn't your decision to make, Agent Maxwell. I will assign you what cases I want and you need to do them," Une shot back. "You are all dismissed."

I clenched my fists and then turned on my heels and hurried out of the office, not wanting to say anything I might regret. Heero followed behind me quickly and kept silent until we reached our office.

"What was that all about? I'm ready to take this case," he told me.

"I'm not," I said simply, not wanting to tell him about the dream. But I was going to have to tell him now.

"What?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "I've never known you not to jump on a case. From what I remember, you were always asking Une for the big ones."

"Yeah, the last time I did that you got killed," I snapped, much harsher than I meant to.

Heero sighed and sat down in his chair. He reached across our desks and took my hand that was fisted on top of desk.

"Is that why you don't want this case?" he asked.

"Yes, and no. It's just…" I trailed off, not sure how to tell him that he was going to get killed on this case.

"Just what?" he persisted. He didn't sound mad or disappointed, but concerned.

I couldn't see a way out of telling him now without lying, and I didn't want to lie to him. "It's those dreams I've been having. Well, one dream really. It's always the same. And when I saw those satellite pictures, I realized exactly what my dream was."

"What was it?" he urged.

"We go into the building and you get shot," I told him bluntly.

"Oh. Well I've been shot many—"

"And you die," I cut him off, struggling to hold back the tears that are just right there.

"Oh," he repeated.

"If we do this case, and it seems like we don't have any choice, I want you wearing a bulletproof vest," I demanded.

"But I—"

"Don't even argue with me!" I shouted at him, fighting really hard to hold back my emotions and loosing. "I will not loose you again! And you know that if our positions were reversed, that you would want the same thing from me."

He nodded. "All right," he responded. "But I want you wearing one too. If I was in a position to get shot, then most likely you were too."

"Okay," I agreed, even though I hated wearing the vest. It compromised my mobility and made me feel like I was weak to need it. But it was only fair since I was demanding Heero to wear one.

"Tell me about the dream. What happened exactly? I want to know what not to do," he asked.

I explained what I had seen in as much detail as I could, starting with us in the car trying to get the warrant and ending with Heero getting shot twice in the chest. I left out the part about his black hair and brown eyes though. I still didn't know how to explain that and I wasn't sure how it was relevant. Heero remained quiet the entire time, listening intently.

"Why was it only the two of us? Why weren't the others with us? Surely during an infiltration of that size and importance there would be backup," he pointed out after a few moments of silence.

"I don't know. All I know is that we end up infiltrating alone and that you end up getting shot. And I don't like either of those situations," I added.

"Well we'll just have to do things differently. Let's just hope that we'll have reinforcements when we enter the building and… I don't know. I guess we'll stick together instead of splitting up?" Heero suggested.

"Yeah, sounds good," I responded. "What I really want is for Trowa and WuFei to lead, not us."

"Yeah, but Une's not going to let us drop it on them," Heero frowned. "I think we'll be fine. We just have to be extra careful."

I nodded, turning to my computer and opening the file that Une sent me.

"And do you know why Quatre is working the case? I thought he wasn't a field agent," Heero asked as he too turned to his computer.

"He works down in forensics, computer crimes, and all that kind of stuff. Mostly he just passes around files, but he'll be good to have on this case since he's good with a computer," I responded.

"I thought you were always the best with a computer."

"I am. She just wants me doing all the tough stuff like investigating and infiltrating and not having to bother with that kind of stuff. So Quatre will take care of it," I clarified.

"Oh," was all he said, his attention on the case file.

We hunted for leads for the next three hours and came up with nothing. Trowa and WuFei were in our office more often than not. And when they weren't in our office, we were in theirs. Even Quatre joined us sometimes, but he mostly hung out in the tech lab. One of us was on the phone at all times searching for witnesses to illegal trade, records of illegal trade, mysterious shipments in and out of space or on Earth, security footage, satellite footage, and anything else we could think of.

"We need an undercover agent," WuFei suddenly said as he hung up the phone and turned to look at all of us.

I nearly froze. During the phone call in my dream our ADA had mentioned that we had had an undercover agent infiltrate and get a recorded conversation of illegal trade. It was all falling into place.

"Any volunteers?" WuFei prompted.

Before anyone could answer, Quatre ran into the room with a piece of paper and a grin on his face.

"Check out what I found!" he said proudly, throwing the paper onto my desk in front of me.

Trowa and WuFei walked over to my desk and Heero leaned over his to see what Quatre had found. I scanned the paper. It wasn't anything definite, but it was a very suspicious shipment order. It was an order for a number of different metals and supplies consistent with the materials needed to build a Mobile Suit. The order that stood out the most being a rather large order of Gundanium Alloy.

"Where did you find this?" WuFei asked before I could.

"I was looking through cargo checks coming in and out of Earth for the past few weeks and noticed this. It was from about sixteen days ago. I still have the computer searching for other similar shipments," Quatre explained.

"Awesome. Thanks Quatre," I told him as he sat down in a free chair. "You realize what they are doing, guys? They aren't just building Mobile Dolls. They are building their Mobile Dolls out of Gundanium. Our Gundams seemed about the only things that could stop the Mobile Dolls during the war, right? They are fixing that problem. These will be very hard to defeat if they get them operational. Even if we had our Gundams.

"Which means we can't let them become operational. We can't let them launch them," Heero added.

"Absolutely," Trowa and Quatre agreed at the same time, making Quatre smile.

"So back to our earlier conversation," WuFei urged. "Undercover agent. Anyone?"

"Its going to be near impossible for any of us to successfully infiltrate this group," I pointed out. "Everyone knows all of us from the war. And everyone also knows that all of the ex-Gundam pilots joined the Preventers," I pointed out.

"Heero could do it," Trowa put in.

"What?" I turned on him.

"He's supposed to be dead," Trowa clarified.

"He's right, Duo," Heero told me. "I don't think it's gotten out yet that I'm alive. Those guys will most likely be looking out for you four, but I'm probably the last person they'd expect to infiltrate."

"But they still know what you look like," I argued.

"But they also know I'm still dead."

"No. You aren't going undercover with such a big risk of being identified," I protested, glaring at Heero.

"He's the only one with the skill and the cover to be able to do this, Maxwell," WuFei shot back at me.

"I'm not letting him do this!"

"Then I'll get Une to make him do it!"

"Duo," Quatre interrupted. "WuFei is right, I'm afraid. Heero is the only one who can do this. I don't like it either, but we have no other options. This is too big of a case."

"But—"

Heero cut me off by taking my wrist and pulling me out of the room and into the hall.

"I know that you are afraid of loosing me again. I wouldn't like it either if I were in your position. But Quatre was right. This is too big of a case and we can't afford not to put me undercover. I'm ready for this. I know how to protect myself in serious situations. I promise you I'll come back to you."

I couldn't argue with him. He never broke his promises. I still didn't like it, but he was the only one who could successfully infiltrate and we needed someone to do it. I exhaled sharply and hugged him tightly to me.

"You promise you'll watch yourself and that you'll make it out of there alive?" I murmured into his neck.

"I promise."

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**Uh oh... The dream is coming true... I liked this chapter, but the next one is better, and the one after that is betterer XD So did you guys like it? Any thoughts? Please review cause I love it when you do! Woah that rhymed! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it XD I'll try and post again tomorrow. Hopefully not as late... sorry about that...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay new chapter XD Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 5

"I still don't like this," I mumbled as I eased up to the front of the van.

We were parked three blocks down from the warehouse and Heero had just left. He was wearing a pair of glasses with a camera in them and a microphone was hidden in his belt buckle. The van we were in was a high tech van with all sorts of computers and equipment used to monitor Heero and the building. I sat down at the computer receiving Heero's video feed as he walked down the sidewalk.

It hadn't been hard for him to catch one of the men leaving the building yesterday. Our plan was for Heero to try and get close to one of the rebels and therefore, hopefully finding a way into the building. I had never known that Heero was such a good actor. He really played up the part of government hater and got on the good side of a younger rebel really quickly. This morning, Heero had 'run into' the kid again and the kid informed him that the leader of the entire operation would meet with Heero and see if he was good enough to join their cause. It had been too easy and therefore, we were all a little edgy about it, but we took the offer. This was the meeting. This was where everything went either very good or very wrong.

"Can you hear me, Heero?" I asked into my headset as I pulled it on.

"Yeah, I hear you," Heero responded a moment later.

"Good," I said, then switched off my microphone and turned to Trowa, WuFei, and Quatre. "Are we good to go?"

"Mic feed check," WuFei responded.

"Vid feed check," Quatre told me.

"Satellite feed check," Trowa added.

I flipped back on my headset and turned back to the computer screen. "We're all good here, Heero."

"Got it," he responded, then he turned the corner and the building appeared in front of him.

The kid was lounging in front of the building, waiting for Heero. When he saw Heero approach, he shrugged off the wall and hurried to meet him.

"Hey Michi!" he called to Heero.

After we got Une to sign off on the undercover mission, we got Heero papers under a false name, rented him an apartment room under that name, gave him a record under that name, and basically gave him a new life. He had to stay in his new apartment instead of coming back home with me so that there were witnesses to him living there. If these rebels asked around, any one of the hotel staff would say that Michi Takeda moved here a few days ago from out of town and is living by himself. Sleeping alone again has brought back old memories and the old feelings of loneliness and depression that I was hoping never to feel again. I couldn't wait for this case to be over.

We were pretty sure that no one would recognize Heero as the one time Gundam Pilot 01 since he was supposed to be dead, but just incase, Une demanded that we try and change up Heero's appearance a little. The only things Heero agreed to were brown contact lenses and black hair die, which explained the hair and eyes in my dream. To help play up the young rebel kid role Heero was trying to play, we also changed his wardrobe. He was wearing a big, baggy, black shirt with a band logo on it and baggy black cargo pants with a studded belt. He looked nothing like the Heero I knew. I doubted anyone would recognize him.

"And you're sure that your boss doesn't mind me coming by?" Heero asked the kid as they walked towards the door.

"Nah, he's in a good mood today. Besides, he's been complaining that we don't have enough people to do what we're trying to do, so I don't think he'd mind getting a volunteer," the kid replied.

"And what is it exactly that you guys are doing?" Heero asked as the kid opened the door.

"Remember Heero," I said into the headset. "Try and get a good look at everyone's face. We need to run facial recognitions." Then I turned to Quatre, covering the microphone. "You ready Quatre? He's entering the building."

"I'm ready," he responded.

"We got our hands on some old Mobile Doll systems from the war," the kid answered Heero's question. "We're going to use them to attack the government and take control. Isn't that awesome?"

"Absolutely," Heero responded and he almost sounded genuine.

"He's a little too good at this government hater role," WuFei scowled, leaning back in his chair.

I ignored him. Heero pretended to look around casually, getting good shots of the other men's faces. The room they had entered was just a large empty room with three men sitting at a table in the center. That's all that was in the room. There were doors in the back wall though and that's where the kid was leading Heero.

"Got them Quatre?" I called down the van to him.

"Yup. The computer is running all three of them now," he responded.

"Good. We got them, Heero," I passed on.

The door opened and the kid led Heero into a large hanger. All our suspicions were confirmed the very moment Heero stepped into the hanger and looked around. Five almost completely built Virgo Mobile Dolls were surrounded by crates, parts, scaffolding, and mechanics. Heero made sure to get a good shot of everyone's face and Quatre quickly moved between three computers all running the facial recognition.

The kid led Heero further back into the building and to the one other door aside from the hanger doors. The kid stopped then and gestured Heero towards the door.

"The boss is right there on the other side of the door. Uhm… make sure you only call him 'sir'. He's really big on that. Well… good luck," the kid said, then made his way back into the hanger.

Heero watched him leave, then stared at the doorknob for a moment.

"You got this, babe," I whispered to him. "Remember to appear unthreatening. You are just an eighteen year old kid after all."

"Right," he said under his breath, then knocked on the door.

"What do you want?" a harsh voice snapped.

"Uhm, Jason Cain said that I could meet with you, sir," Heero responded in a voice that made him seem small and intimidated. Perfect.

"Oh, it's you. Come in," he responded.

Heero opened the door and walked into the office. The man wasn't a big man, but he wasn't small either. Heero could take him down pretty quickly, but it wouldn't be easy. His black hair was cropped in a military cut and his eyes were dark brown and beady. He had a scar on the left side of his temple and a military tattoo on his arm.

"You're that Japanese kid, right? Uh…" he looked down at a paper on his desk. "Michi Takeda?"

"Yes, sir," he responded.

"You running him through facial, Quatre?" I called to him.

"Yeah," he responded.

"Put him as top priority. I want to know who he is now," I demanded.

"So why do you want to help us?" the boss asked.

"Because my family was killed in the war and the government let the men who did it go free," Heero told the man.

"I see. And now you want revenge?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright. Good enough for me. Revenge is a strong motivator. You realize you are risking life in prison if we get caught, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, kid. How do you think you can help us?"

"I helped in the OZ hangers during the war. Mostly cleaning and maintaining the Mobile Suits, but I know how to fix and build them," Heero replied.

"Good. Go join the mechanics and do whatever they ask you to do," the boss dismissed him.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Heero said, bowed slightly, then left the room.

"Perfect Heero. He completely bought that. But he bought that a little too easily. I'm not sure I like that. Keep your guard up," I warned. "Now I guess go do what he said and help the mechanics. After that… I hate doing this, but you need to ask him whether or not he wants you bunking here nights or if you're allowed to go back to your apartment."

Heero didn't answer, but I didn't expect him to. He walked up to one of the mechanics pulling parts from a crate and was immediately put to work. I could tell that Heero was still edgy about being around other people because of the way he seemed to shy away from everyone. But this wasn't all that bad. It made him appear tentative and nervous, perfect for the role of lonely young kid he was trying to play. I helped Quatre with the facial recognition on all of the men while keeping an eye on Heero's monitors. Heero was kept working well past midnight and coming close to three in the morning, he was finally out of things to do.

"Okay, Heero, now you need to ask the boss what he wants you to do. Remember that you need to appear completely dedicated to this cause."

Heero turned and headed towards the bosses room. He knocked on the door tentatively and waited for an answer.

"What?" the boss demanded.

"Uhm, do you want me bunking here so that I'm on hand if you need me, sir?" Heero asked through the door.

"You can go home. Be back here by seven tomorrow morning, though," the man called back, dismissing him.

"Yes, sir," Heero responded, then headed towards the far door.

"Walk straight to your apartment, Heero," I told him. "He could have someone tail you to make sure you aren't running off to us or something."

Heero walked through the large room where the three men were still sitting at the lone table playing poker. Once out of the building, he crossed the street and headed off towards the general direction of his apartment.

"Well that turned out much better that I had expected it to," I sighed, pulling off my headset.

"I'll say," Quatre responded, his forehead on the table as his computers continued to scan the people from the warehouse.

"Well let's get back to headquarters then go home," WuFei suggested. "We have an early morning tomorrow."

"Agreed," Trowa put in, shutting down his computer.

My computer still giving us video feed from Heero's glasses and Quatre's computers still running facial recognition were the only ones left on as we packed everything up and Trowa drove us back to headquarters. Once the van was parked back into its spot in the tech department, WuFei headed up to Une's office to give her a verbal report, Quatre and Trowa headed to their car and left, and I hurried to my truck.

Heero's block was quiet, so I parked on the far corner, tucked my braid into my jacket, pulled up my hood, then walked to Heero's apartment building. I kept my head down as I walked by the oblivious front desk clerk and stepped into the elevators. Aware of the cameras, I kept my hood up and head down all the way to Heero's door. I knocked on the fading red door and Heero opened it a minute later, still wearing his glasses and brown contacts in case it was one of the warehouse workers.

Even though the door was safely closed behind us, I kept my hood up just to be safe.

"You alright? Did you notice anyone tailing you?" I asked him.

He shook his head, then smiled. "That was… thrilling. I miss being in the action like that."

"Glad at least one of us enjoyed themselves. You alright to go back tomorrow morning?"

"Well I kind of have to be. If I don't show up they'll get suspicious," Heero responded, taking off his glasses and setting them on the kitchen counter.

"Well I should go. I'm not even supposed to be here. If Une or WuFei find out I'm here they'll kill me," I told him with a frown, turning towards the door.

He reached out and grabbed my wrist, then pulled me into a deep kiss. "I love being undercover, but I can't wait until it's over so that I can go back home with you," he told me after he released me.

"Yeah, me too," I told him. "Love you."

"Love you too," he responded as I opened the door and left.

Once in the truck and driving back down the highway, I pulled out my cell and called Une.

"How much longer until we have enough on these perps?" I asked as soon as she answered.

"Well, we technically have enough right now, but I it might not be enough to hold up in court," she responded.

"What do you mean it might not hold up in court? We have recorded conversation of one of the rebels telling Heero their plans," I demanded.

"That might not hold up. We need the actual leader of operations to tell Heero what his plans are," she retorted.

"Alright. I'll relay that to Heero tomorrow before he goes in."

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**So? I like that chapter but the next one is awesomer XD I'll post it tomorrow. Hopefully... Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews, guys. They're very much appreciated XD Well here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 6

"Are you still running facial, Quatre?" I asked as I stood and made my way over to Quatre.

Heero was back in the building helping the mechanics and Trowa, Quatre, WuFei, and I were all back in the van monitoring him.

"I'm running them all through the entire database. It's going to take a while," he complained, resting his cheek on his hand and his elbow on the table.

We had gotten a few hits on some of the mechanics, but I wasn't too worried about them. I wanted to know who the leader of the operations was.

"Hey Duo? Heero is heading towards the boss's office," WuFei informed me.

I hurried back to my computer and sure enough, Heero was walking towards the small door in the back of the warehouse.

"What's going on Heero?" I asked him.

He didn't answer, of course, and I frowned at myself, wondering why I had even bothered to ask that question. Instead, Heero shifted his glasses. That was the signal that everything was all right. Scratching his nose meant that the situation was under control. Wiping a hand across his forehead meant he was getting nervous or things were getting heated. Coughing meant that he was in trouble.

Heero knocked on the door tentatively.

"What?" the man's voice snapped.

"Uhm, I have a question, sir," Heero told him, his voice sounding nervous. He probably was.

"Come in," the man sighed.

Heero opened the door and stepped into the office, closing the door behind him. He didn't sit and the leader didn't look up at him.

"Uhm, I was just wondering… What are your plans with all of those Mobile Dolls, sir? I just want to know what I'm getting myself into," Heero added quickly when the boss raised a suspicious eye to him.

"We're going to use them to crush the government and take control of it," he answered simply, not taking his eyes off of Heero.

"Awesome," Heero said, sounding genuine. I could tell he was grinning. "I just wanted to know what my contribution was helping to achieve. Sorry for interrupting, sir."

Heero bowed slightly, then turned to leave. The man hadn't looked any less suspicious that entire time.

Something wasn't right. He had allowed Heero to join him and told him his plans way too easily. I didn't like that. Someone with so much to hide didn't behave the way this man was and get away with all of this.

"Something is up, guys," I voiced my concerns, covering the microphone.

"I agree. This is going way too smoothly," WuFei agreed.

"He knows something," Trowa put in.

"Should we pull out?" I asked, wanting Heero out of there.

"You're getting too nervous, Maxwell. Leave him in there for a little longer," WuFei told me, turning his attention back to his computer.

"Oh, Michi?" the boss suddenly called.

Heero turned around and stuck his head back through the door.

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't bother coming in tomorrow. No one will be here. But, we're going to launch in two days. Be there for that," he demanded.

"Yes, sir," Heero nodded, then left.

"Something is going on, Heero. Something doesn't feel right. Be on your guard," I told him.

Heero nodded his head ever so slightly, not enough for it to be noticed by any of the workers, but enough to be noticed by me.

Once everyone was dismissed for the night, Heero headed straight to his apartment. The rest of us went through the same routine. Park the van, pack everything up, WuFei goes to give Une a verbal report, and Trowa, Quatre, and I leave. I argue with myself on whether or not to go see Heero. I really want to, but the leader is definitely up to something and I'm not sure if he is having Heero watched. But, as I get closer to Heero's block on my way home, my need to see Heero wins over reason. I turn down the adjacent street and park a block away from his apartment.

I tucked in my braid, pulled up my hood, then eased down the block and passed the front desk clerk. I knocked on Heero's door, keeping my head down. He didn't answer. I started to get a little nervous.

"Michi?" I called through the door, knowing better than to call out Heero's real name.

Still no answer. I knocked a little louder, to no avail. I really started to panic now. I ran out the emergency exit and to my truck where I knew there was a lock picking kit, then back up to his room again. After quickly picking the lock, I eased into his apartment, my hand itching towards my gun in its holster. I swept through all the rooms, not finding anything until I got to the bedroom.

I relaxed when I found Heero in bed on his stomach, clearly asleep. He was still wearing all his clothes. He had just paused to kick off his boots before getting in bed. He hadn't even bothered to take out his contacts I realized when I saw the empty box on his bedside table.

I remembered how he had hardly gotten any sleep last night. That explained why he had fallen asleep so quickly. I walked over to the bed and pulled the blankets up over him, then leaned down to kiss his forehead.

"Love you," I told him, then turned to leave.

I didn't want to go back home and leave him by himself. The leader's actions today were very suspicious. And I had a feeling there was a reason that he didn't want Heero there tomorrow.

I looked around the apartment, searching for any hidden cameras or microphones. Not finding any, I looked out the window, looking for any signs of someone watching the apartment. I didn't see anyone, but just because I couldn't see them now didn't mean they weren't there. I pulled a chair up to the window and sat down, keeping my eyes on the street.

…

I started awake after seeing Heero fall to the floor in a puddle of his own blood, two bullet holes in his chest, for the hundredth time. I hadn't even realized that I had fallen asleep. As I started to wake up and calm down, I realized then that I was way too comfortable to have slept all night in that chair. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in Heero's bed. I rolled over and also saw that I was alone. I rubbed my eyes with my fists, then sat up and hopped out of bed. I found Heero in the small kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hands and the newspaper on the table in front of him. Another cup of coffee was sitting on the other side of the small table.

"Coffee?" he offered when he saw me in the doorway, gesturing to the cup in front of him.

"Thanks babe," I murmured, sitting down and picking up the cup. "Good thing I didn't pursue a career in security detailing, because I obviously suck at it. Sorry I fell asleep on you, Heero."

"You needed to sleep. Pulling an all nighter wouldn't have helped either of us," he responded, folding up his newspaper and putting it aside. "It was nice to sleep with you again," he adds with a smile.

I nodded, sipping at my coffee. "Une is going to kill me if she finds out I spent the night with you. I'm totally compromising this case."

"I think you're all right," Heero shrugged. "This guy seems to not care very much. I mean he didn't second guess me before taking me in, he didn't think twice about telling me his plans, and he hasn't sent anyone to spy on me or anything."

"Yeah, and none of that makes sense. Someone with that much to hide isn't that carefree. Something is going on and I don't like it," I grumbled.

Heero reached across the table and put his hand on mine. "I'll be fine, Duo," he reassured me. "I won't let anyone hurt me. I know how to protect myself."

"Against bullets?" I shot back at him. I sighed, trying to calm myself back down. "I keep having that dream, Heero. It's always the same. And everything seems to be falling into place. I don't want to loose you. I _can't_ loose you."

"I know, Duo. I will try my hardest to come out of this alive," he promised me. "Are you going to be like this on every top priority case we get?"

"Depends on if I have dreams warning me of your approaching death," I mumbled.

He sighed and stood. "Let's go for a drive. I want to see if anything is going on at the warehouse."

"That's risky for us to be driving together right by the place," I told him.

He shrugged and walked into his room to get his contacts. He must've taken them out while I was asleep. I grabbed the keys to the truck as he put the contacts in his eyes, then we walked out of the building and towards the truck.

"So is everything alright with you?" I asked him. "Being undercover I mean."

"I love it, but I miss being with you. Last night was nice," he responded.

"Yeah, I agree. It brings back memories from after the accident," I admitted.

Heero looked at me, concern clear in his eyes.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before," I brushed it off. "Let's just get these guys soon so that you can come back home."

He nodded, his concerned expression turning to one of determination. He was in 'mission mode' now.

We were about a block down from the warehouse when Heero rolled down the window. That's how we were able to here the sounds of large hanger doors being rolled open.

Heero looked to me and I cursed, pulling out my phone and dialing Une.

"The launch is today! Not tomorrow!" I told her as soon as she picked up.

"How do you—"

"I'm driving by the warehouse right now and they're opening the hanger doors!" I shot back at her. "I'm calling the ADA. We need a search and arrest warrant now."

I froze. This was it. It was happening. I was going to hang up on Une, then call our ADA as I pulled up to the warehouse. We were going to get the warrant, then enter the building. Heero was going to get shot, and he was going to die.

"Duo! Call the ADA!" Heero demanded.

"I…" I stammered.

Heero grabbed the phone from my hand and hung up on Une, then called the ADA as I pulled up to the warehouse. Heero argued with the ADA, then I heard the ADA arguing with the judge.

No, this isn't how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to talk to the ADA, not Heero. But I was thankful for the change. Perhaps this wasn't going to happen like it did in my dream. Heero was still in danger though. We were entering a heavily armed hanger with only our service pistols to defend ourselves.

"Thanks," Heero said quickly, hanging up, then checking his weapon.

"Wait," I said, grabbing his arm. "We don't have vests."

"We don't have time, Duo!" he snapped back, opening the door and running towards the building.

I wasn't about to let Heero go into this alone. The last time that happened, he was blown up right in front of me. I quickly loaded my gun and jumped out of the truck after him. I caught up to him and he motioned me to the side entrance.

"No, I'll go to the front. You take side," I insisted.

"No way am I letting you go that way if I get shot going that way in your dream," Heero argued. "We'll both go through the side."

I nodded. This was all different. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. All I knew was that I wasn't going to loose Heero again. Even if that meant using my own body to shield him. I jumped in front of him and kicked in the door.

"Preventer agents!" we yelled at the same time.

The three men stood quickly, but then turned to face us. They didn't even try to resist. That was wrong. These men were willing to give their lives to the cause. Two Preventer agents weren't going to change that.

I lowered my gun slightly as I started towards them, but I kept it at the ready and didn't drop my guard in the slightest. I watched the three men closely, and that was how I caught one of the men itching towards his gun.

"Gun!" I warned, firing a single shot straight through his hand.

The man cried out, falling to the floor and clutching at his bleeding hand. The other two men took that chance to grab their guns and fire at us. Heero and I both let off a round, nailing one man in the shoulder and the other in the hip. But not before I took a bullet straight into the left side of my abdomen.

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**So? Did you guys like it? Hope so... I liked this chapter. The next chapter is good too though. Please review! Thank you :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter. I couldn't help it XD But here's the next chapter for you guys. Enjoy :)**

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Chapter 7

I covertly covered the bullet wound with my hand as I pulled out my cuffs with the other. Heero didn't notice, and for that I was glad. I didn't need him worrying about me right now.

I only had one pair of handcuffs, so I cuffed the men with the hand wound and the shoulder wound together and left the man with the hip wound next to them. He wasn't going anywhere with a bullet lodged in his hip.

Heero called into Preventers while I did that. There was no way the two of us alone would be able to stop the launch of five Mobile Dolls. But an entire Preventers team would be able to. Hopefully.

I was hoping that the sounds of hanger doors rolling open were enough to drown out the sounds of what had happened in here. And since no one came in to check it out, I assumed that they hadn't heard.

Now that the adrenaline was leaving my system, I was definitely starting to feel the pain. I could also feel the dizziness starting to prick at my consciousness from blood loss. I pressed my hand tighter against my side, trying to minimize the bleeding. The added pressure made me wince involuntarily and Heero saw it.

"Duo? What's wrong?" he asked, walking over to me while keeping his gun trained on the men.

"It's nothing," I brushed off.

"Is that blood?" he asked, his voice suddenly full of concern.

I looked down to see the thick red liquid staining my shirt and oozing between my fingers. He reached out and pulled my hand away, revealing the ragged whole in my flesh.

"Duo!" he gasped, holstering his gun so he could try and tend to my wound.

I pushed his hands away, drawing my own gun and aiming it at the men. "There is nothing you can do about it right now. Keep your mind on the case," I demanded, putting my free hand back over the wound and applying as much pressure as I could stand.

He nodded, but kept his concerned eyes on my stomach as he watched the blood seep through my fingers.

A few minutes later, the Preventers showed up and Heero and I helped them stop the launch. Then, Heero and I headed towards the back office. Heero kicked in the door and strode into the room, gun raised and at the ready.

"Preventer agents. Stand up and put your hands flat on the desk," he demanded in a cool voice.

The boss look startled, then stood slowly. He glared at Heero as he leaned his hands on the table.

"I knew there was something about you. I knew I should've killed you when I had the chance," he snarled.

"Cuff him, Agent Yuy, then let's get out of here," I urged, starting to feel weak.

"Yuy?" the man asked, his eyes widening. "As in Heero Yuy? Ex-Gundam pilot 01? That's impossible! My men blew you up over a year ago! You're supposed to be dead!"

My eyes widened. "What do you mean, your men?" I demanded at him, my grip tightening on my gun.

"That was my warehouse. I was trying to lure the Preventers there with rumors of meth labs. What I really wanted were a few Gundam pilots to investigate. Imagine my surprise when pilots 01 and 02 were given the case. I couldn't wait until you two tried to enter the building. Only, 01 went in by himself. I was disappointed, but satisfied that I had eliminated at least one of my biggest threats. Only, it seems I didn't," the man glared.

"Why were you trying to kill off ex-Gundam pilots?" I questioned.

"So I could get away with this! I knew that the Gundam pilots would be put on this case if you found out about it. You guys are considered experts dealing with Mobile Suits. I wanted you out of the way so that I could carry out my plans. I was hoping more that just one, or even two, of you would investigate the 'meth lab'. I only had one chance to take out as many of you as possible or it would've appeared that someone was targeting ex-Gundam pilots."

"Arrest him, Heero," I urged as my eyesight started to blur.

As Heero took a step forward, the man reached under the desk and pulled out a gun. It was so fast I didn't even have time to react. A bullet tore through Heero's left shoulder and I reached out to catch him as he started to fall back. I wrapped one arm around his chest and held him to me as I fire off rounds at the leader. But I was too late. He was already disappearing through a back door and was gone before the first round left my gun.

I turned my attention back to Heero. The bullet had gone all the way through, right above his heart. It may have missed his heart, but it still could've hit his artery. The amount of blood flow pouring from the wound confirmed that. I pressed both hands to the wound and he winced. He remained completely alert, which was good. I wanted him to stay awake. I wanted him to stay with me.

"I need help in here!" I yelled out the door.

"Press harder," Heero told me and grimaced when I did as he told me.

"Hang in there, Heero," I begged, my eyes watering. "Don't leave me. Stay with me. You'll be alright."

"I can't leave you again, Duo. I won't leave you again," he promised.

He was starting to loose consciousness. His breathing was slowing and I could feel his heart beating faster, trying to get blood through an artery that wasn't working.

"I need a medic!" I yelled out the door again.

I ignored the complete dizziness I was feeling as I struggled to keep pressure on Heero's wound. Now that I had both hands on Heero's gunshot wound, there was nothing keeping pressure on mine. I could feel the blood flowing down my stomach and leg, but I didn't dare move one of my hands from Heero's chest. I didn't care what happened to me as long as Heero pulled through.

Four men then swarmed through the door and pushed me aside to get to Heero. I was about to resist, but then I saw that they were paramedics and I backed away quickly so that they could help Heero.

One saw the wound in my stomach and tried to help me. I pushed him away quickly.

"Save him! I'll be okay," I told him.

"Sir, you need—"

"He's worse than I am! Help him," I demanded, shoving weakly at the man as my head swam and I struggled against unconsciousness.

But it was a pointless struggle. The darkness was right there and I could feel its greedy claws wrapping around me. I couldn't hold myself up anymore and I fell back onto the cold concrete. The icy claws tightened and it started to drag me under.

"Heero…" was all I could manage before the darkness claimed me.

…

This was a new nightmare. I knew Heero was hurt and dieing somewhere, but I couldn't find him. I called his name, but didn't get an answer. I looked for him, but couldn't find him. Time was running out. I was going to loose him again. I could here a heart beating faintly, but it wasn't mine. Was it Heero's? It had to be. Who else? The beating got slower and slower as I continued to look for him until it stopped all together.

"Heero!" I cried out as I started awake.

The first thing I realized was that I was in a hospital. I tried to sit up but something in my arm stopped me. It was an IV. I ripped it out and pulled off the oxygen tube that was under my nose. Hands were suddenly on me and I saw Quatre, WuFei, and a man in a white coat struggle to keep my down as I tried to get up.

"Let go of me!" I yelled. "Where's Heero? I need to see him!"

"Duo! You just had surgery! You need to stay still!" Quatre insisted.

"Let me see Heero!" I demanded.

"You can't!" Quatre told me.

I froze. What did he mean I can't?

"Is he…" I couldn't finish that sentence. "No… he… h-he promised… He c-can't be dead! He can't be…"

The tears were streaming down my cheeks and I fought harder to get free. They continued to pin me to the bed and the doctor sifted through a drawer, probably looking for tranquilizers or sedatives.

"Let me go! If Heero's dead than I don't want to live anymore!" I yelled at them.

"Maxwell! Stop this ridiculousness!" WuFei snapped. "Heero just got out of surgery and is stable. You can't see him because you yourself just got out of surgery and need to remain in bed."

I stopped struggling. "He's… he's alive?"

"Of course," Quatre smiled at me. "The paramedics were able to stop the bleeding enough to get him to the hospital and then he went straight into surgery."

"So he's okay?" I asked, wanting to make sure.

"Yes," Quatre reassured me.

"I want to see him," I demanded.

"I just explained to you that—" WuFei started, but I cut him off.

"I don't care. Let me see him," I demanded more firmly.

WuFei exhaled sharply and looked up at my doctor.

"I guess he can. He needs to stay in his wheelchair though. I don't want him ripping his stitches. I'm surprised he hasn't already," the doctor frowned.

"Thank you," I sighed in exasperation and Quatre helped me up and into the wheelchair WuFei had rolled to the side of the bed.

"I'll take him to Heero's room and you can go back to headquarters and help Trowa," Quatre told WuFei.

"Thank you," he nodded, looking relieved.

"So how's the case? Has anyone caught our dude yet?" I asked Quatre as he rolled me out of the room and down the hall.

"We got everyone in the facility detained except for the leader of the operation. He's still at large," Quatre informed me.

"Crap," I mumbled. "Did you guys hear the conversation we had with him before he shot Heero? I'm pretty sure Heero was wearing his belt."

"Yes, we have."

"Then you guys know what happened over a year ago?"

"Yeah," Quatre frowned.

"You guys should watch yourselves. He could try and come after us again."

"Une has already given us the speech."

"You mean the protection detail speech?" I grimaced.

"Yup," he sighed, then recited the speech in a poor imitation of Une's voice. "We are to remain at home or at headquarters at all times until the suspect is apprehended. If we need a ride anywhere, we are to have a police escort. We are to—"

"Blah, blah, blah," I cut him off. "I get it. I've heard the speech before."

Quatre laughed, then opened a door and wheeled me in. Heero was lying in the bed with an IV coming out of his arm and an oxygen tube under his nose. He looked so pale and it was such a shocking contrast to his black hair. He looked so vulnerable like that and it was such a weird concept. Heero was always so strong and so… indestructible. Seeing him like this was almost unnerving.

I rolled myself up to the side of his bed and took his hand, careful not to tangle his IV lines. I brought that hand up to my lips and kissed it, trying to fight back the tears. I was so relieved that he wasn't dead. I hadn't been kidding when I had said that if Heero had died, then I didn't want to be alive either. I wouldn't have been able to handle his death again and I would've followed behind him as soon as possible.

His heart monitor started to accelerate slightly, a sign that he was waking up.

"Heero? Babe?" I called lightly to him.

His fingers tightened around my hand and his eyelids fluttered open. "Duo?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"I'm here," I reassured him as smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

I forced myself to my feet, then leaned over him so that I could kiss him, ignoring Quatre's protests.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, running his fingers lightly over the thick bandages covering my bullet wound.

"I'm fine. It's not me I'm worried about. How are you feeling?" I asked him as I sat back down in the wheelchair.

"I feel like… I don't even know," he sighed, closing his eyes.

I reached up and brushed his messy bangs from his face. "I'm not sure I like your hair this color," I told him honestly.

"I'll admit its weird seeing black hair in front of my eyes instead of brown," he responded.

"I'm glad you didn't die," I found myself saying, my fingers absent mindedly skimming up and down his arm.

He laughed. "Yeah, me too."

"Agent Yuy?" a man asked from the doorway.

Quatre stepped aside for him as he entered the room, carrying a chart.

"Oh good, you're awake," he said as he walked up to Heero's bed and checked his vitals. "I just wanted to inform you that your surgery was a success. We removed all of the bullet fragments and fixed the damage done to your aorta. That artery will be a little weak for a while as it tries to heal itself, so dizziness and irregular heart beats will be frequent. I'll ask that you don't do anything strenuous for a while and to take it easy."

Heero nodded and the doctor checked a few more things, then left us alone. Heero took out his contacts, revealing his beautiful cobalt blue eyes that I had come to miss. I was glad he didn't have to wear those anymore.

I leaned down to kiss him again and he tried to raise his hand to my face, but the IV line stopped him. He grimaced and dropped his hand.

"I hate hospitals," he complained.

"Yeah, me too."

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**Aww XD And no it's not over! Three more chapters after this one. So did you like it? Please review. Thank you :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I didn't post last night. I completely forgot... and I almost forgot tonight too *is very ashamed* Sorry for the wait. Please enjoy.**

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Chapter 8

"You ready to go?" I asked Heero as I stood up from my desk and stretched.

No answer. He was staring at his computer screen intently, a frown on his face and his black tipped bangs hanging in front of his eyes.

It had been three weeks since the warehouse accident and this was our first day back in Preventers. The black hair dye had almost grown out of his hair, but he still had black tips and he refused to get his hair cut any shorter than it was now. It looked kind of funky, but also kind of cute. We were both pretty much healed with just scars left to remind us of what happened. Heero sometimes had trouble lifting his left arm and I joked that we had matching injuries from similar cases. I was referring to the fact that during the explosion over a year ago, shrapnel from the blast had messed up my shoulders and had given me a permanent limp.

"Heero?" I tried again.

"Hn?" he grunted, not taking his eyes off of his computer screen.

"I'm ready to go. What about you?"

"Hn," he responded, not paying attention to me at all.

I exhaled sharply, then walked around my desk and up behind him, covering his eyes with my hands. I leaned in close and kissed his neck, then whispered "Do I have your attention now?" in his ear.

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized and I released him and stood up.

"What are you doing? You're obviously not ready to go so I won't even bother asking that question again."

"Does that look like our guy?" he asked me, pausing the security camera footage that was playing on his computer.

I leaned in closer to get a better look at the pixilated image. Heero zoomed it in a little, then filtered it. I couldn't tell for sure, but it looked an awful lot like our man.

"I think so, but I'm not sure," I answered. "Where did you find this?"

"I requested security footage from local train stations, bus stops, airports, and launch stations thinking that he'd most likely leave town. This is from a week and a half ago at the launch platform a few miles north of here," he responded.

"So do we know where he took off to?" I asked.

"Well this shuttle went to L-1. I managed to get the footage from that station as well and saw that after landing in L-1, he got on another shuttle and went to L-4. I couldn't get the footage from their station though so I don't know if he stayed in the colony or headed to a new one."

"Damn. If he's not on Earth then we just lost jurisdiction," I frowned.

"Exactly. What are we supposed to do now?" Heero asked, leaning back in his chair.

"We should tell Une that he's no longer on the plant, then we can go home. There isn't really anything else we can do…" I trailed off, suddenly remembering something. "WuFei and Trowa are out on a mission right?"

"Right," he responded. "Why?"

"They've been chasing a known weapons dealer across space, right?"

"Right."

"Where are they right now?"

"Uhm… X-18999."

"Where we they before that?"

"Why does it matter?" he asked, turning to look at me.

"L-4, right?"

"Yeah."

"And before that?"

"L-1…" he trailed off, then his eyes widened. "Our guy is chasing them."

I nodded as I picked up the phone and started to call Trowa, but then I decided I didn't want to talk in one to two word sentences, so I called WuFei.

"WuFei," he answered.

"Where are you right now?" I asked him.

"Following our weapons dealer to L-3. Why?"

"You're being followed," I told him.

"How do you know this?" he demanded.

"It's the guy we've been chasing for the passed three weeks. We found out that he left the planet a week and a half ago, right after you did. And, all his stops so far have matched yours," I explained.

"Thanks. We'll keep our guard up," he told me, then the line went dead.

"We need to tell Une about all of this," I told Heero. "He's still targeting ex-Gundam pilots."

Heero followed me down the hall and towards Une's office. She was busily typing at her computer while she argued hotly with whoever was on the phone with her. Heero and I waited in the doorway until she hung up the phone.

"What do you want?" she demanded, obviously not in a good mood.

"We found our guy. He's off planet," Heero told her.

"We also found out that he's chasing Trowa and WuFei from colony to colony. He's still targeting us," I added.

"Have Barton and WuFei been informed?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. We just got off the phone with them," Heero answered.

"Good. You two watch yourselves. I wont assign you a security detail since out guy is off planet. But you should still keep an eye out," she warned. "Do you guys have a lock on his position?"

"No, ma'am. We were able to follow him from Earth to L-1, then from there to L-4, but L-4 wouldn't give up their security footage so we don't know where he went from there. But, if he's following Trowa and WuFei, then we should be able to locate him using their position," I told her.

"I'll get your footage and have it ready for you by tomorrow morning. You guys were only supposed to have a half day today. Go home. And be ready. I'll be sending you into space after this guy once we either locate him, or get a sighting."

"Yes, ma'am."

…

"I miss your wings," I murmured as I ran a finger lightly over the vertical scars on Heero's back.

He was lying in bed next to me with his back to me. The sun had just come up and I could tell he was awake by the way he shivered under my touch. I lightly draped my arm over his waist and scooted closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder blade.

"Yeah, I miss them too," he replied. "But I think it was worth it. I like being back where I belong helping people."

"I know. Preventers has always been your life," I said into his back.

He rolled over so that he was facing me and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed me lightly, just the barest touch of his lips against mine.

"Preventers isn't my life, you are," he corrected me. "You will always come before my job."

"I feel loved," I joked.

He kissed me again, only much deeper this time. "You should, because you are," he told me after he released me.

Suddenly my cell started to ring on the bedside table behind Heero, making him start slightly and his arms tighten their grip on me. The next moment though, he reached behind him and answered it.

"Yuy," he said into the phone.

'Who is it?' I mouthed at him.

'Une,' he mouthed back. "Okay, we'll meet you there."

He hung up on her, then released me and climbed out of bed. "WuFei and Trowa spotted our guy following them on L-3. Une is launching us in half an hour," he told me as he pulled on his Preventers uniform.

"Awesome. Maybe we'll finally get this guy," I grinned as I too climbed out of bed and started to pull on my uniform.

"You're wearing a vest this time," he told be firmly, daring me to argue.

"I was just about to tell you the same thing."

"Wait…" Heero hesitated. "I thought we lost jurisdiction."

"Une will probably talk to an L-3 Preventers headquarters and ask them for permission to work our case on their colony. Hopefully they will let us."

He nodded and checked his gun before holstering it and pulling on his jacket. I followed him out of the house and we drove straight out to the Preventers launch platform. Une pulled up in a black SUV at the same time we did and followed us onto the shuttle.

"WuFei and Barton are still trying to chase their weapons dealer while they try and avoid your guy. I've asked them to keep an eye on him and not lose him before you two arrive. When you find him, I want you to use whatever means necessary to apprehend this bastard," Une told us as we left the atmosphere and entered space.

"But isn't that against regulations?" Heero protested.

"If you can take him alive, great. But I'm not risking my four top agents and countless innocent civilians so we can play it by the book. This man needs to be stopped, and if a bullet is the only way to accomplish that, then so be it."

"Yes, ma'am," Heero and I responded at the same time.

"Did you get us permission from L-3 headquarters for us to work this in their jurisdiction?" I asked her.

She nodded, then stood and made her way to the weapons locker as she said over her shoulder, "Last time we encountered this guy, I nearly lost you both. That will not happen again, you hear me?" She turned around and tossed each of us a Kevlar vest.

"Yes, ma'am," we responded.

Heero and I pulled off our jackets and strapped on the vests, then covered them back up with the jackets. These things compromised mobility, and therefore reaction time, but if it will keep me alive and with Heero, then I could live with it. I know that I want Heero wearing one, so I'd wear one for him.

"We're approaching L-3. You two ready?" Une asked us.

We both nodded and the pilot came on over the speaker to tell us that we were ten minutes until landing.

I took a deep breath and saw Heero do the same thing. We grabbed all our gear and checked our weapons as the shuttle got closer and closer to the Preventers hanger.

"Barton activated his locator so that you two would be able to find him," Une told us as the shuttle landed. She handed each of us a headset and we put them on quickly. "This is already linked to both Barton and WuFei's headsets. I want you guys coordinating everything. No mistakes."

"Yes, ma'am," we responded as the shuttle doors opened.

We stepped out into a hanger and an L-3 Preventer agent greeted us.

"My name is Agent Rice. I'll be your Preventer contact on L-3. If either of you need anything, call me and I'll set it up for you," he told us, handing us his cell number and keys to a SUV.

"Thanks," I replied.

He nodded and headed back into the main building.

"Let's go kick butt, babe," I grinned as we jumped in the SUV and drove off.

We turned on our headsets and Heero pulled out our locator.

"Hey, WuFei? Are you on?" I asked into the headset.

"We're here. Where the hell are you?" he demanded.

"On our way. We just landed on the colony," I told him, then to Heero, "Do you have a location?"

"Not yet," he responded.

"We're on our way to L-3's main launch station. Our dealer is leaving already," WuFei told us.

"Got it," Heero said and read off coordinates.

"Hurry. We're almost there," Trowa urged.

"You got it," I responded.

"Turn on the lights, Duo. He's right, they'll be at the station in twenty," Heero told me.

"Way ahead of you babe," I said as I flipped on the siren and lights and hurried through the traffic.

Most of the cars pulled over, but there were a few that decided they didn't want to, which slowed us down a little. I cursed as we got to an intersection and the cars continued to cross. I sat on the horn, but didn't slow. We nearly missed a car, but made it out without incident. Heero let out the breath he'd been holding and turned to glare at me.

"I'm driving next time," he insisted.

"What's going on? Where are you?" WuFei demanded.

"On our way. Some people don't respect the siren anymore," I grumbled.

"Approaching in five," Trowa informed me.

"Yeah I got it. Don't worry, we'll be there," I told them.

I pushed the SUV faster and soon we saw the launch station.

"Flip it off and slow down. We don't want him to know we are here," Heero said.

I took my foot off the gas and flipped off the siren and lights. We slowed down to the speed limit and both Heero and I looked around for WuFei and Trowa's car.

"Are you two driving a Preventer SUV?" Heero asked.

"Yes," Trowa responded.

"Why?" I shot at them. "No wonder it was so easy for him to find you and for your dealer to avoid you! Nothing says 'law enforcement' like a big black SUV with marked plates."

"We want your guy to know where we are. That's why," WuFei snapped. "We want him following us so we know where he is."

"There they are," Heero interrupted, pointing out the window at a matching SUV. "They're parked though."

"Yeah, we're already in the station," WuFei told us.

"Do you have a visual on our guy?"

"No," Trowa responded. "Wait… there he is."

"He just entered the building. Far left entrance. Light brown trench coat, matching fedora. He actually sticks out a lot," WuFei elaborated.

"Got it," Heero responded as I pulled up to the curb.

We hopped out and ran towards the entrance. We flashed our badges at security and they let us pass. We looked around for our guy and WuFei was right. He was easy to spot.

"There he is," Heero pointed out.

"Let's do this."

* * *

**So only two more chapters left then its all over... That makes me sad... DX Well, please review and I'll try not to forget to post tomorrow... Sorry again about that...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry I didn't post last night... or the night before... I forgot... I'll post the next chapter today. Hopefully soon. I put a sticky note on my computer so I won't forget XD Sorry about that again. Please enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 9

"Preventer agents! Put your hands where we can see them and don't move!" I called to the retreating form of out guy.

I saw Trowa and WuFei way up ahead turn around.

"Everyone clear out!" WuFei shouted to the civilians as he waved his badge.

Everyone started to run towards the exits and I was happy to get the innocents out of danger. The man still hadn't raised his hands and my finger tensed on the trigger.

"Put your hands up now or we will shoot!" Heero warned.

"You two go get your guy. We've got this asshole," I called to Trowa and WuFei.

"Got it," WuFei responded and they ran off deeper into the station.

"Put your hands up _now!_" I shouted.

The man suddenly spun around and pulled out a hand gun. Heero and I both let off a shot that went straight through the man's hand, forcing him to drop the gun, but not before he let off a few shots of his own. A bullet connected solidly with the vest just under my ribs on the right side. The momentum of the bullet pushed me back a step and it stung like I couldn't believe. I stayed on my feet though and kept my gun aimed at our guy.

"Are you okay?" Heero asked me without taking his eyes off of the man.

"Hit, but stopped by the vest," I responded. "You?"

"Nicked just above my elbow. Superficial," he reassured me.

"Good. Cuff him."

We stepped forward, guns still trained on him. Heero holstered his so that he could pull the man's hands behind his back and cuff him. But before Heero could get the cuffs on, the man swung around and his fist connected squarely with Heero's face. Heero stumbled back from the blow and tripped over his own feet. The man took that moment to launch himself at Heero, wrapping his hands around Heero's neck.

It had all gone so fast, I hadn't been able to react. But once I saw the man with his hands around Heero's neck and Heero struggling to fight back, I was immediately in action. I put my gun to his head and he froze. But he didn't loosen his grip on Heero. Heero continued to struggle to get air and I was faced with a hard decision. Do I shoot him to save Heero? Or do I risk that he'll release him before he kills Heero? We really need him for questioning, but was it worth Heero's life? I knew the answer to that without even thinking about it. Une was going to be pissed.

My finger had just started to squeeze the trigger when he suddenly released Heero. Once he stopped trying to choke Heero, I grabbed his collar and pulled him off of him. I pushed him to the floor and put a knee on his back to keep him down.

"Heero, are you alright?" I asked him without taking my eyes off of the guy.

It was completely silent. No answer.

"Heero?" I called more desperately, looking back over my shoulder.

"I'm alright," he panted. "Just give me a second."

I quickly cuffed the guy, then knelt by Heero.

"Are you okay?" I asked him as he sat up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, getting to his feet.

I stood as well and pulled the man to his feet.

"You are under arrest for illegal trade of banned weapons, conspiracy against the government, attempted murder of Preventer agents, evading police, and other crimes too numerous to list," I recited as Heero patted him down, searching for other weapons.

"We got him guys," Heero said into his headset.

"Good," Trowa responded.

"Good? That's all you have to say?" I laughed.

"Yes," he responded and my headset beeped, telling me that someone had switched off their headset.

I pulled off mine at the same time Heero did and we led our guy out of the building.

"Call Une," Heero told me as he shoved the man into the back seat.

I nodded and pulled out my cell. I called Une as I climbed into the driver's side and started the car.

"That was quick," she said. "Either it went really good or really bad."

"We got him. It actually was pretty easy. He's not very smart," I told her, looking in the rearview mirror back at the guy.

He glared at me and I grinned back at him.

"Great. I have a shuttle waiting. Did he come easily?"

"We had a small firefight and he attacked Heero when he tried to cuff him, so no he didn't."

"Casualties?" she asked nervously.

"None, civilian or agent," I replied.

"That's always good to hear. Good job boys. When we get back to headquarters you two are free to go. And I'll give you Friday off as well. You two deserve it."

"Thanks ma'am," I smiled, then hung up. "She's giving us the rest of the day today, tomorrow, and the weekend off."

"Really?" Heero asked. "That doesn't seem like something she'd do."

"Yeah really. It surprised me too."

"Where did you get hit?" he suddenly asked me.

"Uhm… right side, under my ribs," I responded.

"You'll probably have a bruise," he told me.

"I _already_ have a bruise," I frowned, feeling the pain every time I inhaled. "What's your status?"

"Bleeding has already stopped," he responded.

"Good."

I opened up my jacket, revealing the vest, and looked for the bullet. I found it quickly and pulled it off the vest. The front half of the bullet was completely flattened into a disk and the back half stuck out of that disk.

"I'm keeping this," I grinned, sticking it in my pocket. "It's a reminder why I should listen to you more often. Even if these vests are really annoying."

Heero laughed and leaned across the seat so he could kiss my cheek. "I only make you wear it because I love you."

There was a disgusted noise from the back seat and Heero frowned, then turned around in his seat and punched the guy.

"Bet that felt good," I laughed.

"Absolutely."

"Oh, I need to call that one dude and ask him to get us transfer papers so we can take this creeper back to Earth," I remembered and pulled out my cell and the agent's number.

"Agent Rice," he responded.

"Hey, it's Agent Maxwell and Yuy."

"The Earth kids, right?"

"Yeah," I frowned. "But we're not kids."

"Sure, whatever," he laughed. "Did you get your guy?"

"Yeah. We need transfer papers so that we can take this guy off of the colony."

"Sure thing. I'll have them ready for you to sign when you get back to the hanger."

"Thanks," I said, then hung up. "We're good to go."

Une and Agent Rice were waiting in the hanger for us when we arrived. I parked the car and tossed the agent the keys. He handed me the papers and both Heero and I signed them, then Une.

"Perfect. He's now yours to do what you want with," Agent Rice told us, then headed back into the main building.

The flight home was uneventful so far. The prisoner kept quiet and Une asked us routine questions that we answered as best we could. A medic came to clean up Heero's gunshot wound and bandage it and also checked my stomach. I could tell that Heero was around somewhere. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was there.

"Is this a gunshot wound?" the medic asked me, looking at the healing wound on my stomach.

"Yeah. I got that last time we encountered this asshole," I told him.

He nodded and checked the ugly bruise under my ribs. He checked to make sure there was no internal damage and that my lungs were working properly. He cleared me and I was pulling on my shirt as Heero walked in from wherever he had been hiding.

"Told you I was fine," I told him as I laid back across a row of seats.

"Bullet wounds are very serious, even if they don't actually hit you. That is a really nasty bruise," he responded, lifting my head and sitting in that seat. "Une says we'll be landing soon."

"Alright."

He ran his fingers absent mindedly through my bangs, brushing them out of my face, as he stared out of the window. I looked around to make sure that we were alone, then looked up at him.

"I've been noticing that you've been… more relaxed than you used to be," I pointed out. "It seems like you aren't as nervous about being back around people."

"I'll admit that I am still a little nervous around people, but I am getting used to it," he responded, not taking his eyes off the window. "I remember being in space."

"Really? What do you remember about it?" I asked him, curious as to what memories he was able to hold on to.

"Being in my Gundam mostly. It's all stuff from the war," he frowned. "I'm glad I have a better memory of space now."

I snorted and sat up as the pilot announced that we were approaching Earth's atmosphere. "Yeah, some happy memory. We ran after some insane maniac that blew you up over a year ago and got shot at and… yeah…"

He leaned over and kissed me quickly, then sat back again. "I was with you, so it was alright."

"You're starting to get sappy on me, Heero," I laughed at him, then scooted closer to him and leaned against his shoulder. "What do you want to do during our long weekend?"

"I'm not sure. Do you have anything in mind?"

"How about we go up to the cabin? We haven't been up there since you've been back. I'm sure you would like to go back up there after all this time."

"That would be nice actually," he responded, wrapping his arm loosely around my waist.

"Maybe you'll actually try and ride Tenshi?" I hinted, looking up at him.

"I'm not sure… he really doesn't… like me very much," Heero told me, but I could tell that it was more that he was nervous.

"He does! That horse is very _very_ picky about who he trusts because of his past. The way he is so carefree around you tells me that he trusts you. You should try it. At least once. Then I'll stop bugging you about it. You never know… you might actually enjoy riding," I begged him.

"Fine," he relented.

"It'll be fun, babe. I won't let him do anything stupid," I promised him as the shuttle pulled into Preventer headquarters.

"Now we need to hunt down our prisoner and book him," Heero said as he stood up suddenly.

I had been leaning fully against him and wasn't prepared for him to stand up. I fell back and nearly off the seats. Heero laughed and pulled me up off the seats.

"Ha ha," I joked as he lead me into the next shuttle cabin where our prisoner was being held.

The sight in front of us immediately wiped the smirks off our faces. The two security guards in charge of guarding our prisoner were on the floor lying in a puddle of their own blood, obviously dead. The man was standing, hands still cuffed, with some sort of hand sharpened blade in his hands. We both drew our guns, but it was already too late.

The man launched himself at me, tackling me to the ground. Just as the blade pressed into my throat, Heero's gun was to his head. I felt the blood flowing down my neck and onto the floor. I saw Heero's hard expression and his finger starting to tense on the trigger.

"Wait, Heero!" I managed around the blade. "We need him for questioning."

"Get off him. Now," Heero growled.

The man stood and dropped his blade, raising his cuffed hands above his head. I heaved a huge sigh and raised a hand to my neck. It was worse than I had thought. Heero grabbed the man and slammed him up against the wall. He searched the man more thoroughly for any other weapons, and that's when Une came in.

"What the _hell_ is going on in here?" she demanded. "Oh my god…"

Heero quickly cuffed the guy to the seat and hurried over to me. He knelt next to me as I sat up. The blood flowed down my neck and into my shirt, making me shiver. Heero's eyes were full of concern and worry.

"I'll go find the medic," Une said, then ran off into the shuttle.

"Are you alright? Can you breathe?" Heero was asking me too many questions too quickly.

I put a finger over his lips and he stopped talking immediately. I removed my finger so that I could kiss him.

"Calm down. It's just a little bit of blood. I'll live," I promised him.

Une returned then with the medic and he looked at my neck. He frowned, then fished out a curved needle and thick thread.

"Wait a minute… I don't really need stitches, do I?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered simply. "Don't move."

The doctor was quick but I flinched every time he put the needle through my neck. When he was done, he packed up his things, then left the shuttle. Heero helped me up and raised a finger to lightly trace the stitches. Then he leaned in and kissed me.

"Fags," the guy mumbled behind us and it was my turn to spin around and punch him.

"I didn't see that," Une sighed and headed towards the shuttle doors.

Heero unhooked the man and pushed him towards the door. "Let's get him booked and locked up, Duo, so we can get the hell out of here."

* * *

**So only one more chapter left... I'll post that in a little while. Please review. Thank you :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**So... last chapter... It's more of an epilogue then a chapter and it's kind of short. Well, enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter 10

"Come on! You promised!" I begged.

Heero looked nervously at Tenshi and then looked at me.

"He's very well trained. He won't do anything," I promised him. "Do you want me to go first?"

"Sure," he answered quickly.

I laughed and put my foot up in the stirrup. When I lowered myself into the saddle, Tenshi tossed his head and reared up slightly, longing to run.

"He does that sometimes. I won't let him do that with you, I promised," I reassured him.

He nodded, but didn't look any less anxious.

"You aren't doing a very good job at convincing Heero, butthead," I chastised the horse, flicking his ear.

"When you ride," I said, turning my attention back to Heero, "make sure you sit up straight, and look where you want to go. Even though that's just the slightest shift of your weight, he can feel it and react to it."

He nodded.

"Keep your heels down, because that will help you keep your balance. And also, you want your shoulders, hips, and heels to make a straight line," I told him, leaning down to show him the line.

He nodded again.

"So lots of tips, but it's actually really easy once you get the hang of it," I reassured him. "Okay, when you want him to walk, you tell him 'walk' and give him a tap with your heels."

"Walk," I told Tenshi and he tossed his head and walked forward.

I walked him in a large circle, then stopped him in front of Heero. "You ready to try it now?" I asked him as I dismounted.

"Alright," he finally sighed and stuck his foot in the stirrup.

He lifted himself up into the saddle and I kept my hand wrapped around Tenshi's nose band to keep him from rearing or tossing his head. I handed him the reins and he took them lightly in his hands, looking nervously down at the horse. I stood up on my tip-toes so that I could show him how to hold the reins and how to give the horse commands.

"Hold the reins tighter so that he doesn't pull them away from you," I told him and he did. "Okay, now tell him to walk and give him a small kick."

"Walk," he said in a tentative voice.

"Oh come on," I laughed. "Say it like you mean it!"

"Walk," he said more firmly and gave Tenshi a light kick.

The horse tossed his head, wanting to go faster, but kept it at a walk.

"See? It's not so bad!" I smiled, walking beside them. "Now if you want him to turn, pull on the inside rein. Not too hard, just a light tap. So if you want to go left, pull on the left rein."

Heero nodded and pulled lightly on Tenshi's left rein. Tenshi turned around and started to walk back towards the trailer.

"And if you want him to stop, pull back on both reins and say 'whoa'," I told him.

He did as I told him and Tenshi stopped. The horse tossed his head, wanting to run.

"See? Its fun, isn't it," I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I guess it is," he responded, but still seemed nervous.

"Well it's a lot better when you go really fast," I told him and he looked at me warily.

He got off Tenshi and I took off his saddle, then climbed up onto him bareback. I held a hand down to Heero and he looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

"We both won't fit in my saddle and I want to show you what he can do," I told him.

He looked wary, but took my hand and climbed up onto the horse. The strong horse had no problem holding both of our weight. He wouldn't be able to run quite as fast, but it would still be fun.

"Okay, hold on tight with your thighs and hold onto me, okay?" I told him. "And say something if you're about to fall off."

He nodded and I felt his chest press up against my back. His arms constricted around my waist and I smiled, taking up the reins.

"Okay, Tenshi. Go!"

The horse took off like a bullet and weaved agilely through the trees. I had been wrong. Heero's added weight didn't affect the strong horse at all. I didn't think Heero's grip could get any tighter, but then he suddenly loosened his grip and I swear I could've heard him laugh.

"You were right!" he said in my ear, his voice muffled slightly by the wind. "This is fun! It reminds me of when I could fly."

"I knew you'd like it," I laughed back.

The horse slowed after a while, then I pulled him back to a walk when we reached the meadow. Heero slid off and I followed.

"That was really fun. Thanks for making me do that," he smiled, giving Tenshi a pet on the nose.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

Heero sat down in the long grass and I sat next to him, keeping Tenshi's reins in my hand. I took Heero's hand in my free hand.

My cell phone started to ring, making all three of us jump.

"I didn't know I had reception out here…" I murmured as I took out the phone and answered it. "Maxwell."

"It's Une. I was just in with the ADA and your guy. He denied a lawyer, then demanded we take the death penalty off the table in exchange for names of other large weapon manufacturers. We agreed."

"What? I know we probably needed those names, but he deserves the needle!" I yelled at her.

"Don't worry, Maxwell. He'll be in prison for life. He's getting what he deserves," Une reassured me.

"Okay, but what are we going to do with these names?"

"Barton and Fei have some of the files on their desk for when they get back, as do you two."

"Thanks," I grumbled, then hung up on her.

"Was that Une?" Heero asked me.

"Yeah. Our guy is getting life in prison and we got a bunch of names out of him," I told him.

"So we can put him behind us now?"

"Yeah. It's nice to know who did it, you know?" I said. "After your accident, no one got arrested, no one got blamed, no one paid for what happened to you. It almost drove me crazy. It's nice to know that the man responsible has been caught and is now paying for his crime."

Heero nodded, giving my hand a squeeze.

"So do you like being back here?" I asked him, looking down at our clasped hands. I was worried that perhaps he had realized that life with me in the city wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He's had his wings cut off, been shot at, been attacked, and been undercover with the man who blew him up. I was afraid that he wanted to come back here. But I would never tell him that.

"I have to admit that I miss the solitude and the peace of the forest… but no way would I ever give up what I have now to come back to this place," he responded, giving my hand a squeeze.

"That's good to hear," I smiled, not looking up from our hands.

"You sound like you were in doubt," he frowned.

"Well… I was just afraid that you might not…"

"Not what? Not want to come back?"

I nodded.

"Why would you think that?"

I shrugged. "You've had such a hard, stressful time back in the city with this case and your wings and all… I just didn't know if you wanted that calm life again…"

He suddenly took my face and kissed me deeply.

"Yeah, it was stressful, but it's all worth it to be with you. And the life I had here wasn't calm. I hardly ever slept because I was afraid I'd get attacked. I was always on edge for the same reasons. At least getting shot is a quick way to go. The mountain lions and bears start to eat you before they even check to see if you are dead."

I shuddered and hugged him to me. "Sorry," was all I could think to say.

"I love you, Duo. And I wouldn't trade the life I have with you for anything."

* * *

**So... all over... *cries* I really liked this story. It was fun to write both this one and the first one. Thanks to all of you who read it and enjoyed it, and special thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and/or alerted this story.**

**So my friend suggested that I write a short drabble about Duo's suicide attempt. Should I? I haven't started it yet, but I want to. If I do write it, I'll probably put it in my story **Tenshi x Shinigami **with all my other drabbles.**

**So right now I'm working on two different stories, one I'd like to finish and post and another that is really going nowhere. Don't expect anything from me anytime soon, other than a few random drabbles. So... bye for now!**


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